


Don't Mess With the Dixons

by orphan_account



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 20:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1562759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trix Dixon has been following her brothers around her whole life. At thirty years old, she's the youngest of the Dixons. Life for her means sticking with her brothers and keeping the three of them alive but will that eventually change? Trix doesn't think so. Even in the apocalypse her brothers mean everything to her and she doubts that anyone, especially anyone in the group her and her brothers are with, will ever change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was too hot. The bugs were annoying. The damn animals were taking too long to wander into their kill zone. Merle was complaining about anything and everything he could think of, probably scaring off any game within half a mile. He was being just louder than a whisper on purpose, trying to cut the hunting trip short by making too much noise. Daryl was annoyed but he wasn't going to say anything. Trix was though cause dammit she'd come out there to hunt and the youngest Dixon wasn't afraid of Merle or his anger.

"Merle, shut up before I make you shut up." Trix whispered harshly to her brother. Daryl gave her a look that basically said "you've gone and done it now." Trix decided to ignore him. Merle didn't hit her like their old man did. He just yelled and threw her around a bit. The only time he ever actually hit her was when he slugged her arm to get back at her for annoying him. The worst he'd ever done out of anger was slam her against a wall. Even Merle with all his anger problems wouldn't hurt his little sister.

"What did you say?" Merle asked angrily, glaring at her.

Trix was about to reply when Daryl shushed them. Merle and Trix were going to tell him off until they saw him pointing to something coming out of the trees. Trix grinned when she saw it was a buck. A very big buck that'd probably feed them for a week if they were careful about portions. Daryl took aim, his finger on the trigger of his crossbow. He was about to shoot when this big skinny guy covered in blood came silently out of the trees. Trix stared in shock as the guy attacked the buck without warning, diggings his hands into the deer's stomach as it bit straight into the poor beast's neck.

"What the fuck?" Daryl asked no one in particular. The guy was eating the fucking deer! Raw! With his bare hands! What type of fucked up person did that?! Was that where all the blood on the guy had come from? His last kill? Jesus fucking Christ. "What the fuck is that thing?" Daryl asked. And oh yes it was definitely a thing. No regular person did something like that.

"Let's go find out." Merle said, already getting up from where they were crouched down in the bushes. Trix cursed as she got up too, mentally scolding her brother for making stupid rash decisions. Daryl got up too, not voicing his opinion. He wanted to convince Merle not to but there wasn't point in doing so. Merle was already about half way to the thing and Daryl didn't feel like putting up with his brother's temper.

As they got closer the Dixon siblings noticed more things about the bloody creature. For instance, they knew where all the blood had come from. There was a large chunk of its throat ripped out and its organs were spilling out of a huge hole in its torso. That didn't bother the Dixon siblings too much but the fact that the thing looked exactly like their next door neighbor certainly did. He was a buddy of Merle's and a decent enough person to the two younger Dixons even if he was a junkie with barely two bucks to his name. So of course Merle's first reaction was to call out his buddy's name.

The thing looked up at them, its hands full of deer guts and its mouth full of flesh. It struggled to its feet, dropping the guts it had been eating. Then it started walking towards them, towards Merle who was looking at the thing resembling his friend with a subdued bit of shock, confusion, and disgust. Trix and Daryl glanced at each other, both troubled by the fact the thing that looked human was limping and moaning and looking like it really should be dead. Daryl started to raise his crossbow and Trix reached for one of the arrows in the quiver on her back.

"Hey Marcus! You look uglier than usual you scrawny bastard!" Merle said jokingly as the thing got closer to him. It was reaching for him, moaning and groaning even louder than before. For once, Merle took a step back instead of forward. Then that thing rushed forward, its teeth aiming for Merle's neck. "Fuck Marcus! What the fuck are you doin' man?!" Merle shouted, shoving the thing away from him. Merle retreated as the thing stumbled backwards, placing himself just behind Trix. There was a new gash across the thing's chest; Merle had had his hunting knife in his hand when he shoved the thing away. Still, the thing came at them. "Daryl, shoot this bastard." Merle ordered his brother as the thing started coming at them again.

Daryl immediately did as he was told, sending an arrow straight into the thing's chest. It stopped for a moment, its body absorbing the impact, but kept coming. Right at Trix.

Trix threw her bow up as the thing got closer, placing her bow between it and her. It ran straight into it, holding its arms out as it tried to grab her. Trix tried to shove it away but instead she slipped on the mud beneath her feet, falling on her back and accidentally bringing the thing down with her. It landed directly on top of her but Trix managed to shove her bow between its teeth before it could bite her. That didn't stop it from trying to claw her open though. "Get it off me!" Trix shouted furiously as its nails tried to rip a hole in her hunting jacket.  
Merle complied, kicking the thing in the chest so that it fell off of Trix. Daryl slammed his boot down on its chest and placed an arrow between its eyes. That actually seemed to kill it too because it stopped moving completely and didn't try to get back up when Daryl stepped away from it. Trix scrambled to her feet and immediately slammed her boot into the thing's side, the fear that had been growing inside her since the thing came out of the trees quickly becoming anger.

"He looks like one of those things the news keeps mentionin'. Those people or whatever that start eatin' everybody." Daryl said, yanking his arrow out of the thing's chest.

Merle hummed slightly, leaning forward to look at what was once one of his friends. "Well Marcus always was one messed up son of a bitch. It was about time he did somethin' like this." He said, laughing a bit like he'd just told a really good joke. He hasn't but that was how Merle was. He thought he was one of the funniest men on the planet.

"We should get back." Trix said, wiping the thing's spit off of her bow and onto her jacket. Daryl and Merle looked at her, the former claiming his second arrow from the thing's skull. "To make sure there aren't any more of these things gettin' in our place." She explained.

Merle shrugged but turned and started heading back towards their place. His siblings followed after him, Daryl reloading his crossbow and Trix notching an arrow. Something told them they had to be cautious. If there was one of those things around then there was probably another. They were right too. When they emerged out of the trees into their back yard they spotted a few across the street, ripping apart their neighbor. People were running, screaming, getting into their vehicles and going. The Dixon siblings wasted no time in getting into their home and locking their doors.

"We need to get the hell out of here." Daryl said, stating the obvious. He was looking out at the street through their piece of crap blinds, getting a good view of the chaos going on outside. They didn't live in a big town, the mountains of North Georgia didn't exactly accommodate big towns, so there weren't a lot of people but there were enough for it all to seem a bit crazy.

"Change and pack your shit. We're takin' the truck and my bike." Merle said, heading for his room.

Trix looked to Daryl; feeling like one of them should keep an eye on what was happening. "Move quick. I'll keep watch till you're ready." Daryl told her without taking his eyes off of outside. Trix nodded and immediately rushed into the room she had been sharing with Daryl since they were kids.

It took twenty minutes total for them to pack everything they were taking into the truck and into Merle's saddlebags. They had to put down four of their neighbors when they came at them and tried to bite them. Daryl was the one who retrieved the arrows while Trix ran back into the house to double check that they had everything. When she came back out Merle was with her and she was carrying a freshly bloodied arrow.

"One got in through the back, that door's always been shitty. We need to go. Now." Trix said as they walked towards their vehicles. Merle hopped onto his bike while Daryl started up the truck and Trix climbed into the passenger seat. Merle drove off and his siblings followed him, no thoughts in their heads but survival.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been a week. They were running out of supplies and still hadn't reached Atlanta thanks to all the fucking traffic and dead things getting in the way. It was just a quick drive away now though and the younger Dixons were completely ready to be there where it was safe. Merle didn't want to go there just yet. He wanted to have one last hit of the drugs he'd snuck out of the house without their knowledge of it before they were possibly taken away from him at the military base in Atlanta. Trix didn't like it and neither did Daryl. They managed to convince Merle not to get high until after they went hunting, hoping to use the time out there to convince him to just head into the city. They really did try too, in whispers of course.

"I said no." Merle whispered harshly, glaring at his siblings. They were following the tracks of a small herd of deer that they'd probably never catch up to. Daryl had just picked those tracks cause he had hoped to give them plenty of time for talking to Merle.

"It's not smart Merle. We might not get a chance to go tomorrow." Daryl said, never taking his eyes off the ground.

"Listen, numb nuts, I'm in charge and I said we're stayin' out another night." Merle asked much too loudly. Trix shushed her brother furiously, glaring at him. She'd heard something behind them that didn't sound human. Daryl heard it too and stopped. He pointed his crossbow into the trees, ready."Don't you fuckin' shush me. I'll beat the shit out of you." Merle continued, even louder. His voice was masking the sound of whatever was near them.

Trix did the first thing that came to mind. She drew back her bowstring and pointed an arrow right at Merle's head. "Shut up Merle!" She ordered him, growling slightly. He did was he was told but there was rage in his eyes that promised Trix was going to pay. Trix watched him for half a moment before turning and pointing her arrow towards the noises that were most definitely the dead.

Three of them came out of the trees. Two went down at the same time, Daryl and Trix letting loose their arrows at the same time. Trix put down the third, able to pull out another arrow and shoot without trouble. She was grinning in triumph and about to go retrieve her arrows when Merle stopped her. He grabbed her by the front of the shirt and slammed her into a tree, his arm coming up to press down on her neck and keep her in place. His knife came up and he pointed it at her face. "Merle!" Daryl shouted, taking a step forward like he was about to rush over and fling Merle away from Trix. He'd had to a couple of times and not just in the past week. Merle had always had a temper and sometimes he lost it just a bit too much with Trix. He'd come close to seriously hurting her before. Luckily Daryl had always pulled him away before anything really bad could happen to Trix.

"You stay right there little brother." Merle said, eerily calm. Daryl didn't move, unsure now as to what Merle was going to do. Calm either meant a very vicious beating or a really mean threat. Merle glanced at his brother, making sure he stayed put, before turning his full attention on their sister who was glaring up at him maliciously. He pointed the knife at her, the tip aimed for her eye. "You ever point a fuckin' arrow at me again and you'll regret it. I'll beat you till you see God himself before givin' you a pretty little scar as a reminder. You got that?" Merle said, speaking calmly but seriously. Trix didn't answer, too busy being pissed off at being threatened to reply. Merle pressed his arm down on her neck, a clear sign that if she didn't answer she'd be in all sorts of trouble.

"Yes, Merle." Trix replied angrily, struggling a little to speak with Merle's arm pressed down on her throat.

The oldest Dixon seemed satisfied with this answer because he released Trix, shoving away from her and walking back to where he'd been standing before. Trix glared after him, desperately wanting to kick his ass but knowing it wouldn't end well for her. Daryl didn't say a word, just grabbed the three arrows they'd shot and wiped some of the blood off onto his shirt. None of them spoke as Daryl reloaded his crossbow and tucked Trix's arrows into her quiver. Trix was mentally listing all the reasons attacking Merle would not be a good idea while Merle thought of his drugs and how he seriously needed a break from the shitty ass world around them. Daryl was the only one thinking about Atlanta which wasn't a good thing. They needed to be focusing on their next move. Daryl was about to remind his siblings of their previous conversation when they heard rustling. Again.

It wasn't a group of those things this time though. It was people. Honest to God people. They hadn't spotted living ones in days so it was a bit surprising and actually a bit pleasing to see real people coming towards them. The Dixon siblings relaxed slightly but not completely. They'd never actually trusted people before the world went to shit and they weren't about to start. Trix and Daryl pointed their arrows at the ground but were completely ready to use them. Merle lowered his hunting knife but didn't put it away.

"Well look what we have here." Merle said, quietly sizing up there other men. One was a cop if his hat was anything to go by, another was a skinny guy with quite a bit of scruff, and the third was an Asian kid. Cop and skinny guy had guns and bats but the Asian kid only had a bat. The Dixon siblings could take them out pretty easily if Daryl and Trix took out the gun users first. "A greetin' party! Glad our piss poor government cares so much about its strugglin' citizens." Merle joked in his usual carefree sarcastic as hell way.

Cop exchanged looks with Skinny and Asian Kid. "We're not from the government." Cop told them. It was obvious he was the leader by the way he was standing and the way the other guys kept glancing at him. Trix almost laughed; of course a pig would be in charge.

"Are you headed to Atlanta then? Cause if you are then you're headin' the wrong way." Trix said, her eyes darting all over the cop. She was trying to decide who would be the best choice to fight him if they somehow got his gun away from him without killing him. Daryl maybe but Merle would be a better choice. Daryl could take out Skinny pretty easily and knocking down Asian kid wouldn't be a problem for Trix.

"We've got a camp up the ways from here. We came down here when we heard honking." Cop explained. Trix hummed an old rock song Merle used to play around the house as she mentally mapped out how far their camp was. They'd found a dirt side road that had led to a long dead camping grounds and had stopped at the end. That had been about seven hours ago, they'd been moving since with no animal spottings (except squirrel which Merle had refused to eat if they caught any. He was being picky, wanting a good dinner to go along with his last hit.) That meant their camp was probably far up, it wouldn't have taken them so long to reach them otherwise. "I don't suggest heading to Atlanta. It's overrun. There's no one waiting there to help." Cop told them.

Trix felt her dream of having a peaceful night's sleep soon completely shatter. There was no safe place for them now, no place to rest. Daryl cursed and Merle pressed his lips into a thin angry line. "That's fuckin' great. We could have been out of this fuckin' state by now if we'd had known." Trix said furiously. She turned around and kicked a tree, hard, and cursed as she did it. She turned back to Merle, ignoring the pain in her foot. "What now, brother mine? What the fuck do we do now?" Trix demanded to know.

"Trix, calm down. We'll figure it out." Daryl said, trying to assure his sister into believing they weren't totally screwed.

The three men across from them seemed to be having a silent conversation. By the time the Dixons noticed, Cop was already turning back to therm. "Can you hunt?" He asked them.

"We can. Used to do it for fun before everythin' went to shit." Daryl said, swinging his crossbow so that it was resting against his back. Trix took that to mean she could relax a little and she did, placing her arrow back into her quiver and relaxing her grip on her bow slightly.

Cop glanced at his buddies one last time before turning his full attention on the Dixon siblings. "We could use hunters." He said simply.

Merle looked back at his siblings who were waiting for him to make the decision. He had always made the decision on whether or not they went one way or another. The wheels in Merle's head were spinning as he thought about what to do. He smiled when he turned back to the men. "Looks like you got yourself some hunters, boys." He told them cheerfully, grinning in a way that the other Dixons knew meant trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

The camp was bigger than the Dixons' originally thought. There were a lot more people there than they thought possible in the apocalypse. They were introduced to everyone but soon forgot about half of their names. It didn't really matter. They weren't very social, the Dixons, so not knowing a name or two didn't really affect them. They all remembered Shane's name though. He was the leader of the group and the most dangerous threat to the siblings if anything should ever happen.

Trix was, reluctantly, the chattiest of the three siblings. It didn't matter how many times she made it clear she didn't want to talk, people still started up conversations with her. They did it to Daryl too but since he was usually off checking on their junkie brother he didn't have to deal with it that often. Merle was lucky, he was disliked so much that no one ever spoke to him except Shane and that was only to give orders that Merle usually ignored.

"Daryl better get his fuckin' ass back here and help or I'm gonna beat him." Trix said to no one in particular one day while skinning some rabbits they'd shot. Carol and Andrea were with her, helping but not by much. Neither was very good at the job but had gotten better under Trix's instruction. The youngest Dixon had to admit that it was kind of nice being able to interact with people like this again. Teaching about hunting and all the bits that came with it always had put her in a pretty good mood.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Carol said gently. She was so soft spoken that Trix almost couldn't stand it. Of course, she knew why she was like that. Her bastard of a husband beat the shit out of her any chance he got. Trix had a feeling he did worse than that and not just to Carol but to their little girl too. Trix wanted to beat the hell out of the man and she would too if Daryl hadn't taken her aside and convinced her not to. When he mentioned how Merle was already close to getting them kicked out of the camp and how her fighting could make the decision she'd readily agreed to keep silent. She didn't want to end up back on their own, unable to sleep safely at night. Still, she kept an eye out for Carol and Sophia and helped them as much as she could without alerting Merle or any of the others to what she was doing. Merle would definitely beat her if he found out she was helping other people outside the family. He'd call her weak. A sheep.

Trix huffed and tossed a freshly skinned rabbit into the bucket beside her. They'd cut them up and cook them later, probably into rabbit and some type of mushroom mush. Mush was about the only thing these definite city people knew how to cook. "He better. I'm not teachin' you how to cook rabbit without a little help." Trix said, grabbing the last rabbit out of the burlap sack they'd all been temporarily kept in. That was exactly when Ed, Carol's husband, decided to make the biggest mistake ever and make a comment about women's work. Trix's temper and pride wouldn't let her ignore an insult like that. She spun around and glared at Ed who was sitting on his lazy ass not far off smoking another damn cigarette. "What did you say?" Trix asked the bastard, anger apparent.

"Don't. Please." Carol whispered. She was desperate, pleading with Trix. The youngest Dixon would have listened to her too if Ed hadn't been such an idiot.

"None of your business, bitch." Ed told her. He'd been stewing in anger since that morning when Shane told him he had to give away some of his supplies to the more needy members of the camp. He had yet to take his anger out on Carol or Sophia so he was quick to snap at Trix.

"What did you just call me ya piece of shit?!" Trix shouted furiously. She tossed the rabbit and her knife down onto the empty sack before shooting to her feet. She stormed over to Ed who was on his feet in a second and looming over her in the next. "You listen to me big man; I don't take shit from no one. Least of all a dickhead like you." Trix growled up at the man, glaring as viciously as she could which was pretty damn vicious. She'd grown up with Merle and Daryl as her teachers on how to be tough, on how to survive, so she knew exactly how to make herself look terrifying. Trix found herself extremely glad they'd never put her down just for being female and for always treating her as an equal…more or less. "So I suggest you shut the fuck up before I get violent." The youngest Dixon warned the man.

Ed blew cigarette smoke into her face. Trix pretended not to be affected but inside her head she was screaming with anger. She couldn't stand smoke being blown into her face. Her mother had done that to her thousands of times before when she was being bitchy and mean to Trix and Daryl. Never Merle though, he'd been her favorite. "You better stop acting brave. I'm about ready to beat some respect into your stuck up ass." Ed said angrily, glaring down at her.

"Bring it!" Trix shouted furiously. She was done with playing nice, Daryl's words be damned. It didn't matter to her if they got kicked out if it meant she got to kick this dick's ass. She'd been itching for a fight for days, needing an outlet for all of her pent up aggression and aggravation. "I'm serious! Hit me! Or are you too much of a pussy?" Trix shouted, challenging him.

Ed actually did as he was told for once. He swung his fist, aiming to hit her across the face, but he never touched her. Merle and Daryl came out of nowhere, the former grabbing the man's wrist while the latter pushed Trix protectively behind his back. Neither Dixon brother had his weapon of choice on him but that didn't mean they weren't ready to kill the bastard. "Now you might want to stop and think for a second on whatcha gonna do next." Merle told Ed calmly, his grip on the man's wrist deadly tight. Ed tried to break free but Merle wasn't going to let him go. "See if I let go of your wrist and you hit my sister you're not gonna live to see tomorrow. But if I let go of your wrist and you run your stupid lazy ass back to your tent I'll let you live." Trix almost chuckled; Merle was being almost cheerful as he threatened the man.

"And if you don't go back to your tent I'm gonna put an arrow in your ass." Daryl added furiously despite the fact that his crossbow and Trix's bow were all the way back at their tent.

"Merle! Daryl!" Shane shouted, finally approaching them. Everyone in the camp was watching them; each worried in their own way. "That's enough! Leave Ed alone!" Shane ordered the Dixon brothers.

That pissed all three of the Dixons off severely but it was only Daryl who spoke. "This fat bastard tried to hit our sister and you expect us to leave him alone?!" He shouted furiously. There was no way he was going to let Ed get away with this. He didn't even care how the argument had started, no one but him or Merle was allowed to hit Trix and they didn't even do that really.

"Your sister started it." Shane said, as if he thought that fact would change their opinion on beating Ed.

Trix made an angry sound in the back of her throat. "To hell I did!" She shouted at Shane, taking a step towards the leader of their ragamuffin group. Shane's hand twitched towards the gun at his hip, stopping Trix from moving forward again. Even she knew better than to keep moving when Shane was prepared to shoot. "He started it!" Trix shouted, pointing a furious finger at Ed without looking at him.

"What are you? A little kid?" Shane asked, sounding more angry than amused.

"He did!" Trix insisted furiously. "He made a comment about women's work! This ain't no fuckin' women's work!" She shouted. Daryl and Merle exchanged looks, understanding now why their sister was so mad. One thing that always pissed Trix off was being treated like she was less than others. Didn't matter if it was a guy or gal making her feel like that, she'd get mad no matter what. Trix turned to Ed and got as into his face as she could with Daryl in the way. "This is survival. We're all Walker bait which makes us equals. Till you get that through your thick skull I ain't feedin' you shit. I'll make sure you get as little food as possible you stupid son of a bitch." She practically snarled at the idiot in front of her.

Trix stood there, glaring up at Ed, for a moment before enough of her anger had left that she could take a step back. Merle released Ed's wrist and Daryl relaxed slightly, taking a half step back. Trix barely noticed them as she continued to glare at Ed. It took her a moment before she was calm enough to turn around and start walking back to a distressed looking Carol and an on edge Andrea. "Stupid cunt." Ed said as she walked off.

The man was an idiot.

Merle slammed his fist into Ed's stomach, making him double over in pain. Daryl lifted up his leg and kicked Ed right where Merle had punched him. The big man fell backwards on his ass with a loud grunt. Then Merle was on top of Ed, punching him repeatedly. Trix watched it with an uncaring look on her face but inside she was grinning wildly. She was very disappointed when Shane, T-Dog, and Jim managed to yank Merle off of Ed after only two punches. Daryl protested furiously but Trix placed her hand on his shoulder, telling him getting mad wasn't worth it.

"Enough Merle! Enough!" Shane shouted when Merle continued to struggle.

"You don't call my sister that, man. Not my sister." Merle said, surprisingly calm for how much he was struggling. Trix shot him a thankful look that no one but her brothers noticed. Merle didn't nod back but Daryl grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it, acknowledging her thanks for their brother. Shane glanced over at Trix and Daryl and Trix simply smirked back, earning a disapproving look from Shane.

"I get that. It was disrespectful but you're not gonna beat him to death just because he insulted your sister." Shane told Merle, using the calm even tone of a leader. Trix thought having a good leader was important and she was glad an at least slightly level headed person like Shane was their leader but she still didn't like him. She knew what he and Lori did when they both disappeared and it didn't sit right with her. Her husband hadn't been dead that long and their son wasn't done grieving, she shouldn't be going at it with a guy. Especially not with the man who was once her deceased husband's best friend.

Merle scoffed, still trying to get loose but without hurting any of the men holding onto him. Merle was the type of guy who punched those who pissed him off but not the ones who pulled him away, the ones that didn't make him mad. "To hell with that man! He deserves it!" He said angrily, frowning deeply. He was half on the ground thanks to Shane but Ed was standing and looking incredibly pissed. Carol was beside him but looking at him fearfully. Trix instantly felt bad, hoping the poor woman wouldn't be beat for this. "Not just for this either! He's a lazy ugly son of a bitch! I'd be doing the world a favor getting' rid of him!" Merle continued.

Ed took a furious step forward, like he was going to go for Merle, but then he stopped and just looked pissed. It might have been because both Trix and Daryl stepped forward to kick his ass if he got too close to their brother but Trix didn't think that was it. All the guys she had ever known that beat on women and children were too much of pussies to get into a fight with another guy. Especially another guy that was built like Merle. He could kick Ed's ass, easy.

Shane glared viciously at Ed for a moment until he was sure the other man wasn't going to do anything stupid. Then he glared back down at Merle. "Stop now or you're leaving. I'll kick you out of this camp if you punch Ed again or fight with anyone else. Got it?" Shane told the still struggling Dixon.

Trix paled, feeling fear settle in her stomach. She quickly turned the fear into anger though and her face turned a light red. Daryl clenched his hand into a tight fist and accidentally squeezed down on Trix's shoulder just a bit too hard. She didn't wince though, too busy glaring at Shane. He was serious! He was going to kick Merle out! Trix was pissed. Just because of a fight that dick cop was going to send them away!? Into a world of Walkers where they could easily die! Probably without supplies too. The fucking dick. Trix waited for Merle to make a move and relaxed without meaning to when Merle glanced their way and stopped struggling. Trix was unbelievably relieved that they weren't going to be forced back into the cruel world without supplies and a bit proud of her brother for putting their safety ahead of his anger.

"Let go of me." Merle ordered the men still holding onto him. T-Dog and Jim looked to Shane, waiting for him to give them the order. Shane nodded to them and cautiously let go of Merle. The others followed suit and soon Merle was on his feet. "Damn people being a bunch of pussies. Just a fight. Wouldn't do much harm." He grumbled but there was barely any heat behind his words. He walked over to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before turning his eyes on Ed. The man was still glaring at the oldest Dixon sibling, egging on a fight that he would never win. Merle glared at the man and Trix wondered if he was changing his mind about not fighting the idiot. But then Merle just scoffed and turned away, pulling Trix with him. "Not worth our time, baby brother. Come on." Merle told Daryl over his shoulder.

"Don't wander off too far." Shane said as the three Dixons started to walk away. "We're having a meeting in a few minutes." He told them.

Trix patted both of her brothers on their shoulders before detaching herself and heading back to skin the last rabbit. Andrea sat back down and started finishing skinning her own rabbit, shooting a slight glare over at Trix as she did. Trix ignored her, focused more on Carol who had been given permission by Ed to come back and work. Trix hated that she had to get permission from that man to do anything but she didn't say a word. They were going to get kicked out if she started another fight with Ed, she knew that. She gave the woman an apologetic look when she knew none of the others would see it before going back to skinning the last rabbit. Carol seemed very surprised.

A few minutes later, after all the rabbits had been skinned, Shane called a group meeting. They all wandered over and Shane started talking about being low on supplies and needing more than just Glenn going out and getting stuff. Glenn didn't seem very happy about taking people with him but he didn't protest. People volunteered to go and so did Merle.

"Whoa wait up brother!" Trix said the second Merle volunteered to go. "Everyone else has got permission from their families, you don't." She told him, glaring slightly.

"I'm the oldest, I'll do whatever I damn well please with or without your say so." Merle said, glaring back fiercely. Daryl looked like he wanted to say something too which Merle noticed. "What, you two think you can stop me? Well come on! If you think you're tough enough!" Merle told them. He meant it too. If they wanted to try and stop him from doing something they had to actually stop him. They'd done it a couple of times, stopped him, but only by helping each other. They couldn't beat him one on one and at that moment they really didn't want to try to fight Merle at all. He was still ticked from earlier and would take them down with ease and with quite a bit of pain. "That's what I thought." Merle said when he knew his siblings weren't going to try anything.

"Who says we'll let you go with them, Merle?" Shane asked, his hands on his hips and a glare on his face. Everyone knew he didn't trust the oldest Dixon and everyone knew he was constantly suspicious of the younger two.

"They'll need me." Merle said simply. He sounded arrogant but that wasn't uncommon for him.

Shane looked doubtful. Merle looked to his siblings and ordered them with his eyes alone to back him up. Daryl and Trix exchanged looks before deciding individually that it was in their best interest to not disobey Merle. "He's not lyin'." Daryl spoke up for the first time since the meeting started. "He's a great shot, ex military. Give him a gun, especially one with a scope, and he'll kill any of those damn things that come at ya." He told the others.

"He's got plenty of muscle too which your little group doesn't have enough of." Trix said. Merle smiled smugly at having both of his siblings on his side. Trix shot him a disapproving look before turning back to the others. "He'll be able to carry more than the rest of you which is the whole point of sendin' more people, to get more supplies." She told them. That settled it, Merle was allowed to go. Everyone separated to get ready for the supplies run which they decided would happen the next day. Trix followed her brothers back to their tent and shoved Merle the second they were out of eye and ear shot. "What the hell Merle? What sparked this death wish, huh?" Trix asked furiously, careful to keep her voice down so no one would overhear.

Merle grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her back, glaring the whole time. Trix stumbled back and glared when she was stable again but didn't try to shove her brother again; thinking she kind of deserved it for shoving him in the first place. "Now you listen here missy, I've got a plan. So stop with your bullshit." Merle told her, pointing at her. Why did pointing always make people seem more serious? Trix thought it was weird.

"What's your plan?" Daryl asked. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Merle of having a plan or not.

Merle grinned and stepped forward, placing himself close enough to them that he could hush his voice just slightly and not be overheard. "We've been here too long. These people are gonna to kick us out and they're gonna do it soon. They don't want us around anymore no matter how useful we are to them." Merle told them. Trix and Daryl glanced at each other, knowing it was true. Today was proof of that. The group was just looking for a reason to kick them out. "I say we help them get supplies, steal them blind when the time is right, and high tail it out of here. On our own terms." Merle said.

Trix wasn't sure about that part. Leaving on their own terms sounded good and leaving when there were more supplies for them to be given was a good idea but stealing from these people? That didn't set right with her. They'd stolen as kids but that was back when life didn't depend on how many cans of food you had. Stealing now could mean death for the people who got stolen from. Food, water, toilet paper, clothes. Everything was limited. You only had so much and if you lost it you were screwed. They'd almost been screwed when Shane and the others found them. They'd saved them. Trix didn't feel right stealing from people who'd saved them.

"Oh come on!" Merle said in exasperation when he saw the hesitation on his siblings' faces. "We've been here for two weeks and barely talked to any of them. We don't know them and we don't trust them. Our survival should be more important to you than theirs." He said angrily. Trix shifted her weight from foot to foot, she still didn't want to do it. Merle glared at his siblings for a minute or two, waiting for them to speak. They didn't. "We're doin' it. Got that? Either one of you tries to stop me or doesn't go through with it and I'll leave ya behind." Merle told them. With that, Merle turned and marched into their tent.

Daryl turned to Trix. "He's right. We don't even get along with any of them, not really." He said. He didn't exactly like the idea of thieving from these people either but Merle was right in a lot of ways.

"Our lives are more important." Trix said in agreement. The words left a bad taste in her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

Trix was awake when Shane came to get Merle for the supply run. She had been for a few hours, woken up by a nightmare, and hadn't been able to get to sleep since. She didn't have the nightmares often, just when something was troubling her severely, but they still annoyed her to the point of fury. She always felt like a child who was too weak to handle her own problems when she had the nightmares. It didn't help that sometimes she woke up and felt like sobbing cause the nightmares bothered her so much. Trix didn't like feeling weak and that's why she got mad when she had nightmares. They made her feel weak. Weak, weak, weak.

"Hey, wake your brothers for me. Merle's supposed to be heading out soon and I want to talk to you and Daryl. Alright?" Shane said when Trix was no longer pointing an arrow at him. She'd freaked slightly, thinking he was a Walker, and grabbed her weapon. It was a good thing she'd been careful and not loosed her arrow the second he stuck his head through the flap, killing the leader would have definitely gotten them kicked out.

"Yeah sure." Trix said distractedly, putting her bow and arrow down. After changing quickly, she crawled across the floor to Daryl whose sleeping pallet was just a foot or so from hers. She grabbed her brother's shoulder and shook it. "Daryl? Come on brother, wake up." She said as she shook him. He opened his eyes and grunted at her. "Come on, get up. Shane wants us." She told him. He grunted again and sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Trix crawled over to Merle who was the closest to the tent entrance and grabbed both his shoulders. "Up Merle. You have to go on the supplies run, remember?" She said just a bit louder than she had when waking Daryl. She shook Merle a lot more too. The oldest Dixon had always been a very heavy sleeper and it was always hard to wake him. The drugs didn't help; they made it practically impossible to wake him. "Merle!" Tamara shook him violently but all he did was grumble.

Daryl placed a hand on her shoulder. "Here, let me. You go on out." He told her. Trix was already dressed so she didn't mind leaving. She gave her brother a small nod before climbing out of the tent. As she walked over to the group waiting by the RV she heard a loud thump which was followed a moment later by Merle yelling. She laughed as she walked and didn't care that she got odd looks from the others when they saw her grinning.

A few minutes later Daryl and Merle came walking over. Merle had his gun with him along with his hunting knife. That bothered Trix slightly. He usually left the gun behind in the truck or in the tent unless he really thought he was going to need it. She assured herself that he probably wouldn't actually need it, that it was just a precaution since they were going into the city. Shane eyed the gun in Merle's hand and she knew he was thinking he didn't like the sight of one of the most dangerous men in the camp carrying a gun.

"Why you need me and Trix?" Daryl asked. He had planned on being woken up by Merle before he headed off to Atlanta but he hadn't expected Shane to need them. He'd been hoping to sleep in just for a little while but now that hope was gone.

"I wanted to see if you two would go on a hunting trip. We've run out of everything you caught last time." Shane told them.

Trix looked over at Daryl who gave her the smallest of nods to say he was fine with going out. She then glanced over at Merle who wasn't giving her a "oh hell no" look which meant they had permission to go. "If you want anythin' good, you'll give us today and half of tomorrow." Trix informed the cop. He looked hesitant, like he really didn't want them gone that long. Yeah, like he would be so upset if they were out in the forest hunting instead of picking fights for a day and a half. "Supply runs typically only take a day so by the time we get back they'll be back too. I think everyone can survive a night on whatever they pick up in Atlanta." Trix said, trying to convince the man that it was a good idea to let them out a little longer than he was comfortable with.

For a moment Shane looked thoughtful but then he nodded. "Alright but be back as soon as possible. You don't want to get lost out there." He told them.

Daryl chuckled and Trix smirked. "Wouldn't be the first time we got lost in the woods." Trix commented. Daryl shot her a knowing smile laced with amusement. Shane looked at them in a slightly scolding way and Trix rolled her eyes. "Don't you worry Shane, we'll be careful. We know you'll be so upset over our deaths and not just because we provide most of your meals." The youngest Dixon said sarcastically. Trix reached around Daryl and clapped a hand on Merle's shoulder. "Be careful big brother. I don't feel like diggin' your fat ass a grave." She told him before turning and walking back towards their tent to get her stuff.

"Always am little sister. I'll be seein' you and Darlina tomorrow." Merle said, loud enough for her to hear as she walked away.

"Don't call me that Merle." Daryl grumbled as he turned away from his brother. He hit Merle on the shoulder, silently saying "see you later." Merle just laughed at him. Daryl shook his head and sped up to catch up with their sister.

Trix waited till they were back at their tent and gathering their hunting supplies before saying anything. "I really hope he isn't high." She said, half to Daryl and half to herself. "He's goin' to get himself killed if he is." Daryl didn't say a word, just loaded up his crossbow as he thought the exact same thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Merle watched as the idiot that had been in the tank raced away, towards the alley the little Chinaman had told him to go to. The guy had attracted every damn geek in the city and he was still doing so by firing off shots like he was. Merle watched him through the scope of his gun, making bets with himself over which of the Walkers would grab the guy first. He kept his finger far from the trigger so he wouldn't accidentally fire. He'd told the pansies now downstairs that he wasn't going to waste his hard earned bullets on saving some retard who they didn't even know.

Despite Merle's expectations, the guy got to the alley where the Chinaman was and climbed up to temporary safety. Merle turned his attention back on the Walkers below. There were too many of them now, they'd never get out if they followed that Chinaman's orders. Merle could get them out, or at least him, if he was in charge. He'd have to get them up here somehow so he could tell them exactly what was going to happen. The idiot had already attracted every Walker in the city with his gunfire so there was no real harm in firing off a few shots of his own. Merle smiled slightly as he lined up a shot and fired.

********

Trix heard the screams first. "Sounds like the kids." She told her brother, her eyes searching for any sign of the camp nearby. She knew they were close but how close? No matter what, they were lucky. The deer they had shot had run up towards the camp to die. "It sounded like just them, not any of the others. Do you think they ran into a Walker?" Trix asked her brother.

Daryl sighed as he stood up, looking away from the deer tracks he'd been examining. He stopped and listened, picking up on the sounds of panicked talking. "Don't know, haven't seen a Walker up here in ages." He knew what it meant if there was one though. It meant the camp was getting less safe. Maybe Merle really was right about having to leave soon. "We might as well check it out. The deer went that way anyway." Daryl said, starting to walk towards the sounds.

They heard voices just a few seconds later and headed towards them. When they came around a particularly thick bush they didn't expect to find Shane pointing a gun at them. Trix started to lift her bow and point an arrow at him until he lowered his gun. The Dixon siblings relaxed slightly until they saw their deer lying on the ground, mangled by a Walker.

"Son of a bitch!" The Dixon siblings said at the same time, both instantly furious. "That's our deer!" Daryl continued as they walked towards their dead deer. Trix shook her head angrily as they walked around towards the deer's flank. Daryl went the other way though, towards the Walker. "Aw look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!" With each insult Daryl kicked the Walker, taking his anger out on it. Trix yanked her arrows out of the deer's flank as he spoke, being none too gentle about it. She'd been hoping for a good dinner for once but no! A fucking Walker had come and eaten their damn deer! Why the fuck did nothing ever work out for them?!

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale said.

Trix shot the man a death glare as she straightened back up and Daryl stormed over to him. "What do you know about it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" Daryl asked the man angrily, getting in his face like he usually did when he was trying to shut someone up. Shane kept him from getting too close though by placing his gun between Dale and Daryl.

"Calm the fuck down Shane. Daryl wasn't gonna hurt him." Trix said furiously, glaring viciously at the former cop. She couldn't stand how that dick took every chance he could to threaten or insult her brothers or her. "Now we have a fucking right to be pissed off. Do you know how long we've been tracking this deer?" Trix said, changing the subject of her own accord. Daryl yanked his arrow out of the deer's flank and the sound the arrow made as it was pulled out of the bloody flesh made more than one of the men make a disgusted face. "Miles! And after all that hard work we find it chewed on by a fucking Walker!" Trix kicked the dead body herself then, needing to vent out some of her own anger. She noticed then a new guy among them but she didn't say anything, he was just another guy to her.

"We were gonna drag it back to camp and cook us up some venison." Daryl said when he was sure his sister was done talking. She was grumbling to herself about how much difficulty they had had following the deer, earning annoyed looks from Shane. Daryl didn't really appreciate the guy giving his sister looks like that but figured since it wasn't a threatening look he could let it slid this one time. "What do you think? Can we cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl asked the men, pointing with his arrow to the area the Walker had devoured.

"I would not risk that." Shane said, not even looking at Daryl as he spoke. Trix glared at him, he always acted like he was above them. Like he was too good to look at them or talk to them in any way besides giving them orders.

"That's a damn shame." Daryl said, staring down at the deer they could have eaten that night. It would have been a good dinner. Oh well, they could survive without it. "We got some squirrel, about two dozen. That'll have to do." He told the others. Trix adjusted the rope of squirrels hanging from her shoulder, bothered by the extra weight to her back. She'd put up with it though cause that's what she needed to do. Food was more important than comfort.

There was a snapping noise and Daryl jumped back slightly, startled just a bit. Trix looked towards his feet and saw that the disconnected Walker head was still alive. The idiots hadn't smashed its brain like they should have. Trix made a disgusted sound and took a step back, not wanting her ankle to get bit or anything. Andrea and Amy left, too disgusted to stick around, and Trix rolled her eyes at them for being pansies. Daryl loaded up an arrow.

"Come on people, what the hell?" Daryl said, taking a step back towards the Walker head. He pointed his crossbow at it and fired, sending an arrow straight through the Walker's eye and into its brain. Immediately the thing stopped snapping its teeth. Daryl walked over to it and yanked his arrow out, placing a foot against the Walker head so it'd come straight out. "It's gotta be the brain." Daryl said as he started to walk back towards camp. Trix followed after him and smirked when he accused the men of not knowing how to kill Walkers. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! We got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!" Daryl called out to their brother as they walked into camp. He placed his crossbow down on one of the logs everyone usually sat down on during dinner and Trix put her bow down beside it, slipping her quiver off as well.

Trix looked around for their brother but couldn't spot him. "Come on Merle! You haven't seen us in almost two days!" She said, smiling. Everyone else was back which meant the supply run had gone well. Merle was safe then. Now the only thing she had to worry about was Walkers and their impending betrayal of the camp.

"Daryl, Trix, slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said as he put his gun into his jeep.

The Dixon siblings stopped and looked at Shane. Immediately, Trix had a bad feeling. Shane looked like he was preparing to say something bad. Very bad. He was rubbing his jaw in the way he usually did before delivering bad news to someone. "About what?" Daryl asked. He could tell something was wrong too. Half the time Shane was an open book, like right now.

"About Merle." Shane told them. Trix felt her chest slowly start to constrict. "There was a…There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said.

Everyone in camp was there, staring at them. Waiting. They probably wanted to see if they'd start crying or something. "Is he dead?" Daryl asked. That was the first thing you assumed in this world, that everyone you loved or cared about was dead. The Dixons were no exceptions; if something went wrong they assumed the worst.

"We're not sure." Shane said.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl said angrily. Trix could feel her grip on the arrows still in her hand tighten considerably, like she was ready to stab someone. She was ready to stab someone.

"There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it." The new guy said, walking towards them.

Daryl turned his attention on the man but Trix was staring at the ground. She was starting to shake just a bit, her anger starting to show through. What the hell did Shane mean when he said they didn't know? How could they not know? Merle was here wasn't he? Couldn't they just check on him? "Who are you?" Daryl asked the new guy furiously.

"Rick Grimes." The man answered. Trix wasn't so deep in anger yet that she didn't hear him. The last name was very familiar and she glanced over at Lori. So, her husband was alive after all. Trix wondered briefly if that had put a wrench in Lori's sex relationship with Shane and figured by the way Lori was pointedly not looking at Shane that yes it had.

"Rick Grimes." Daryl repeated mockingly. Trix could hear in his voice how he was steadily getting angrier and angrier. "You got something you want to tell us?" Daryl asked angrily, gesturing between him and his sister.

Rick didn't hesitate to tell them. "Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him on a roof. Hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." He said, surprisingly calm. Big mistake. He should have been more fearful of the Dixon siblings.

Trix was shaking now and she felt the tears she had been holding back for when they said Merle was definitely dead completely disappear. Merle wasn't there. He was on a roof, handcuffed to metal which meant no escape. No escape in a city full of Walkers. Daryl turned away and wiped a bit of sweat out of his eye. "Hold on. Let me process this." He said almost mockingly. "You're saying you handcuffed our brother to a roof and left him there?!" He shouted.

Rick nodded. "Yes." He answered.

Daryl attacked Rick then but Shane shoved him to the ground. The men were so distracted by Daryl that they didn't notice that Trix had dropped the squirrels she was carrying to the ground and was now holding her arrows like knives. She lunged at Rick who just barely managed to step back in time. Daryl was on his feet again, his hunting knife in hand. He slashed at Rick's neck but missed. Trix aimed to stab Rick between his neck and his shoulder but she was yanked back onto her ass. Rick caught Daryl's knife hand and held his arm against his side, stopping him from being able to try and stab him again. Trix shot back to her feet but she was grabbed again by the same person who had pulled her down, Morales. The Mexican guy. He wrapped an arm around her neck and shoulders and grabbed the wrist to the hand she had her arrows in. He forced her arm out, far away from her. T-Dog came up and forced her arrows out of her hand just as Shane was pulling Daryl to the ground in a chokehold. Morales released her for a split second before wrapping his arms around her torso in a bear hug, trapping her arms against the sides of her body.

"Let the fuck go of me you dick!" Trix shouted, fighting hard to get loose. She lifted her legs up and bent them before shoving her feet back into Morales thighs. He yelled out in pain and dropped her. Trix landed painfully on her knees and grunted out in pain. She tried to scramble to her feet but Rick came over and shoved his boot down on her back. "Get! Off! You left our brother for dead! We have every right to attack your ass!" Trix shouted as she moved her arms beneath her. She was about to push up and send his foot flying off of her but before she got the chance he placed his boot down on the back of her neck, making sure she couldn't move without seriously hurting herself.

"Listen!" Rick said, silencing the angry noises coming from the Dixon siblings. Trix could just see her brother being held by Shane in a chokehold with her face stuck in the dirt. "I would like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" When neither of the Dixon siblings answered, Rick pressed his boot down just a tad harder on Trix's neck and glared just a bit more at Daryl. "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again.

Trix looked toward her brother. She didn't want to have a calm discussion about shit but that was probably the only way they'd get any information about Merle. If they tried to attack Rick again they'd have everyone on their backs trying to stop them. They couldn't take on everyone all by themselves without getting hurt. Maybe with Merle but not alone. Besides, Rick was probably the only one who properly knew what had happened to their brother. Killing him wouldn't help them. Daryl was thinking along the same lines as Trix and eventually he nodded, making a sound of agreement. Trix didn't nod but said yes as best she could with half her lips and a whole cheek shoved into the dirt.

Rick calmly removed his boot from Trix's neck and she scrambled to her feet, spitting dirt that had got into her mouth out onto the ground. Shane released Daryl a bit harsher than needed and Daryl got up, moving over to his sister immediately. Daryl examined the back of his sister's neck as she spat out dirt and glowered at Morales and T-Dog. When he deemed that the worst Rick had done to his sister was give her a red mark he turned his eyes on her knees. They weren't bleeding as far as he could tell but the way she was gently prodding them said that the drop had hurt. She wasn't too beat up though so he simply pat her on the shoulder and glared over at Rick. Trix spat out the last bit of dirt from her mouth before turning her own glare on Rick. They were furious, shaking slightly and breathing heavily, but they'd listen to the man. At least until he pissed them off again.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick told them calmly. "Your brother does not work or play well with others."

"Yeah, way to say the obvious there Officer Dickhead." Trix said furiously. Daryl had his hand resting on her shoulder and he gave her a small warning squeeze. As much as he wanted her to punch Rick in the face he knew they couldn't start a fight again until they knew everything that had happened. "Still isn't a good reason for leaving him to die." Trix said, keeping her tone furious but not furious enough to make it seem like she was about to attack Rick again.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog said, drawing their attention to him. Trix eyed her arrows in his hand and wanted them back immediately. "I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog told them.

Daryl's grip on Trix's shoulder tightened but this time it was out of anger instead of warning. "You couldn't have picked it up?" Daryl asked furiously.

"Well I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog explained.

Trix took a step forward to punch T-Dog but she stopped when she saw the former police take a step towards her. She glowered at them then let out an angry sound before angrily ripping away from her brother and starting to storm away, towards the end of the RV. Daryl recognized this as one of his sister's tactics for trying to keep herself from fighting someone so he didn't mind how she just abruptly left him standing on his own. Trix was a lot like Merle when it came to anger but she could handle it better, she had had to learn to when she realized she couldn't beat every guy she decided to get into a fight with. Daryl felt restless so he walked around a bit too, needing to wear down his angry energy somehow.

"If that's supposed to make us feel better it don't." Daryl said angrily.

"Well maybe this will." T-Dog said. Trix glanced over from where she'd stopped by the end of the RV, not wanting to miss whatever T-Dog was going to say next. It had to be a good thing, right? Or else T-Dog wouldn't say that. She was leaning heavily against the RV, trying her damndest not to smash her hand or foot by punching or kicking it. "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock." T-Dog said.

"That's got to count for something." Rick said.

"It doesn't!" Trix shouted furiously as she stormed back over. She went to get into T-Dog's face but Daryl saw how Rick tensed up in preparation to grab her and he stopped her by placing his arm between her and T-Dog. "Enough of those things could break that damn chain! They could get at him! And what does Merle have to protect himself?! I bet you didn't leave him a damn thing!" Trix shouted as Daryl slowly pushed her back. Trix was shaking so bad and furious tears were stinging her eyes. "What's my brother supposed to do, huh? Is he supposed to fight them with his fucking feet?!" That was it. There were tears on her cheeks now. Trix let out an enraged sound and wiped them away, storming back over to her bow as she did. Daryl followed her and grabbed his crossbow as she grabbed her bow, wiping his eye again as he went. Trix realized then he was crying too just not as much as her. It made her feel a bit better about the furious tears still sliding down her cheeks.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Rick asked them.

"To get our damn brother!" Trix shouted as she slung her quiver onto her back. Her voice cracked with tears as she spoke, something she hated. T-Dog cautiously walked over and put her arrows down on the log beside her. She snatched them up; grunting as she did in what could have been thanks.

"Tell us where he is so we can go get him." Daryl said, turning back to look at Rick. He had his crossbow in one hand and the arrows he'd yet to clean in the other.

Rick didn't get a chance to answer. His wife did it for him, saying he was going to show them. Rick agreed then headed towards his tent to grab something or other. Trix glanced at her brother before pulling a rag from her back pocket and wiping the deer blood from her arrows. She'd only used the two during the whole hunt so they were the only ones she had to clean. The rag was enough to get the blood off but she'd have to clean them a bit more thoroughly later.

A few minutes later, after everyone had slowly gone back to doing whatever they had been doing before the kids screamed, Rick came out of his tent. Shane started arguing with him immediately. "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked. It was the first bit of the argument that either Dixon had actually heard and it angered them immediately.

"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Daryl said threateningly.

"No I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane said. Trix glared furiously at him but let him get away with the insult cause he was kind of right. "Merle Dixon." Shane said with disgust. "Guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

Rick was too busy replying to notice the look the younger two Dixons exchanged. Shane wasn't wrong. Merle was incredibly selfish, he kept everything for himself cause he didn't want to help others out. He believed that you shouldn't help someone unless you were getting something out of it. Trix grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him over to where everyone was sitting by the firewood. She sat him down and tossed him his red rag which he'd dropped by accident near the wood. He started cleaning his arrows while Trix stared off at Atlanta, mentally preparing a plan to save their brother. She didn't come out of her thoughts until she realized Rick had said that Glenn was basically going to be calling the shots.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four men, huh?" Shane asked furiously.

"Five." T-Dog corrected, throwing his life into the mix.

Daryl made an angry sound. "My day just keeps getting better and better, don't it?" He asked no one in particular. Trix squeezed his shoulder then turned her eyes on Shane.

"Hey Shane, do I look like a man to you?" Trix asked the cop while Daryl and T-Dog continued to talk. Shane didn't answer but she glared. "Don't call me a guy. I don't want to be coupled in with your moronic gender." Trix told him angrily. Her comments when mostly unnoticed though seeing as the main focus was on T-Dog and Daryl.

"That's five." Dale commented, ending the conversation between the two men.

"It's not just five." Shane said angrily. He stared at Rick, somehow managing to glare with just his eyes. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick." He said, obviously trying to guilt trip Rick into staying. "Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back; we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." Shane told his friend. Trix had to admit he was right but right then she really didn't care about anyone else. Her brothers were and always had been the most important people in her life. She would protect and care for them first, above all else.

"It seems to me what you really need most here is more guns." Rick commented.

Trix lost all interest in the conversation then. Guns had never been her thing though she was close to an expert at firing them. Besides, she didn't care if Rick managed to convince everyone that he should go. Her and Daryl, when he was ready, were going to go no matter what. Having more than just them was a good idea but they didn't care if it did just end up being them. They'd figure it out. They'd save Merle with or without help.

"We're taking the truck we brought back with us. Glenn, can you back it up near the RV?" Rick finally said when he was allowed to go. Glenn nodded and they all started walking towards the truck.

"'bout damn time." Trix said as she followed after the men. Daryl followed after her, loading up an arrow into his crossbow as he did.

Glenn backed the truck up while Rick and T-Dog went to talk to Dale about tools. Daryl and Trix stood off to the side, both fixated on putting their remaining arrows away. Trix looked down into her quiver once she had put away her arrows to make sure she had stabbed them deep enough into the self healing foam she kept at the bottom so the arrows wouldn't move or fall out. She smiled slightly when she had deemed them all firmly locked in place before pulling her quiver back on. She made sure it was secure, her eyes drifting back to the city again.

"Come on." Daryl said, nudging his sister's arm. She nodded and followed him to the truck. She started to get in but her knee suddenly hurt bad when she bent it to step into the back of the truck. She let out a small noise of pain and slipped, nearly hitting her face on the back end of the truck before Daryl caught her. "You okay there baby sister?" He asked her, sounding a tad worried.

"Knees. Hit 'em just a bit too hard on the ground." Trix explained as she rubbed the ache out of her knees. She bent her legs one at a time a couple of times; trying to see if the pain was going to keep her from moving properly. She bent each one a little quicker then gave her brother a reassuring smile. "Seem okay. They shouldn't mess me up too bad." She told her brother.

Daryl looked a tad doubtful so Trix climbed up into the truck to prove she was fine. Her knees ached a bit but other than that she was fine. Daryl stared at her, wondering if she was masking any pain. He didn't want to bring her along if she wasn't at her best. What if she moved wrong and one of her knees gave out? And what if they had to run? Would her knees stop her from getting away? Daryl wasn't going to let his sister die. The guilt would eat him alive and Merle would more than likely kill him. Trix seemed to notice that he was considering sending her back cause she glared at him until he got into the truck. Daryl mentally assured himself that she was fine and that he wouldn't be able to convince her to stay even if she wasn't. Trix was one of the most stubborn people the world had ever created.

"They're taking too long." Daryl said, walking to the front of the truck. He put his crossbow down behind the passenger seat before using his foot to kick the truck's horn a couple of times. "Come on let's go!" He shouted as he walked back to Trix.

Roughly ten minutes later they were driving towards Atlanta. Trix stayed tucked up near her brother, silently praying to anything still listening that their brother was okay. She barely registered Daryl threatening T-Dog and didn't speak until Glenn suddenly stopped the truck. "We walk from here." Glenn told them.

Daryl got out first, opening the back of the truck and jumping out without hesitation. Trix jumped out after him and winced slightly when her knees ached badly. Daryl saw her wince but didn't say anything because when she started following him down the train tracks she looked fine. He assured himself again that she'd be okay. She always was. Just like Merle always was.

Surprisingly, it didn't take them that long to get to the store Merle was at (after an argument about whether to get Merle or the guns first which pissed both Dixons off.) The Dixon siblings had to admit that they couldn't have gotten them there as quickly or as well as Glenn did. They didn't tell the guy that though, couldn't if they wanted to. There were still Walkers in the store which became extremely apparent when a female Walker came wandering towards them. Daryl killed it immediately and they were able to finally go get Merle.

Trix was right behind Daryl the whole time they raced up the stairs. "Hurry up! Hurry!" Trix whispered harshly to the others. The longer they took to get to the roof the longer Merle was stuck up on the roof. He probably had sun stroke by now or at the very least heat sickness. He'd been high too, Trix was sure of it, when he left them so he was probably even worse off.

"Calm down. We're almost there." Rick said as they climbed up the stairs. Trix grunted at him but didn't say anything else.

They reached the door and T-Dog came forward with the bolt cutters. He snapped the chain and Daryl kicked open the door. Daryl called out for their brother as he ran through and Trix did the same, just as eager to get their brother back as he was. They ran across the roof, thinking he had to be on the other side on the ground since they couldn't see him. What they saw when they got to the pipe made them stop.

Trix felt like someone had slammed into her with a truck. She started shaking and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. Daryl was yelling, his face was red, and there were tears in his eyes. Trix thought she heard herself repeating her brother's name and the single defiant word "no" over and over again but she wasn't sure if she was actually speaking. She was too…she couldn't even describe what she was feeling. Trix let out an enraged heartbroken sound and nearly dropped to her knees.

Their brother wasn't there. In his place was a bloody saw, handcuffs still attached to the pipe, and a severed hand in a pool of blood.


	6. Chapter 6

Trix wiped at her eyes, there was no use crying. Merle was gone but that meant Walkers hadn't gotten to him. If Walkers hadn't gotten to him that meant he had a way to escape. Merle was tough as hell; if he was off the roof then he was alive. Maybe not thriving but definitely alive. That meant they could get to him. So now wasn't the time for crying. Now was the time for finding their brother. And getting mad.

Daryl had his crossbow pointed at T-Dog before Trix could get an arrow notched. She was going to point the arrow at T-Dog but when Rick pointed his gun at her brother's head she changed her target. Trix aimed for Rick's temple and wiped her eyes on her arm again. Apparently her tears weren't done flowing. "Put the gun down. Put it down or I'm putting an arrow through your damn head." Trix growled furiously at the cop.

"Try it. Won't stop me from firing." Rick said, looking over at her. Trix didn't lower her bow but she didn't let loose her arrow either. Daryl glanced over at her and saw the hesitation in her eyes before he turned his attention back to T-Dog. He didn't like the feeling of a gun pressed against his temple and it made him itch. "I won't hesitate." Rick said, speaking to Daryl now. "I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it." The cop said.

Daryl was shaking and he could feel tears stinging his eyes again. He lowered his crossbow and looked at the ground, trying to calm down. When he looked back up he met his sister's gaze. She glanced at Rick then back at him. When he shook his head she lowered her bow, gently relaxing the bowstring till she was holding her bow and arrow in a completely nonthreatening way. Or as nonthreatening as Trix Dixon could get. That was when Rick removed the gun from Daryl's head, uncocking it as he did.

Daryl struggled for a moment to calm down but when he did he managed to speak without his voice cracking. "Do you got a do-rag or somethin'?" He asked T-Dog. T-Dog didn't say anything, just pulled one out of his pocket. He handed it to Daryl who took it immediately and walked over to where Merle's hand was lying on the rooftop. He knelt down, laid out the do-rag, and picked Merle's hand up by the ring finger. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." Daryl said as he examined Merle's cut off hand. Trix felt a bit sick at the sight of the pale bloodless hand being held up to the light but she kept the small meal of jerky she'd consumed the day before in her stomach. Daryl placed the hand down on the rag and carefully folded it up. Once the whole hand was wrapped up to his satisfaction he walked over to Glenn and placed the hand in his backpack.

"How the hell did he manage to do this?" Trix asked her brother, her eyes focused on the pool of blood. It was still pretty fresh, just a bit of it dry. Merle couldn't have lost his hand more than maybe half an hour ago. Maybe less. "There's barely any blood. I know Merle's a tough son of a bitch but even he bleeds like a normal person." Trix said, chuckling slightly though she wasn't amused by what she'd said. It was more of a reflex, a tiny release of the hysteria building up in her. She needed her brother back and she needed him back now. The three of them weren't supposed to be separated like this for this long. Not again.

"Must have used a tourniquet. Maybe his belt. There'd be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl told her. He looked back at her and smirked slightly. "If you had been paying attention during Merle's little teachin' sessions maybe you'd remember that." He said jokingly. Trix smiled slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Merle had been their main teacher in life when they were kids and he'd practically raised them…when he was actually there that is. He'd taught them everything he thought was useful even before he came back from being dishonorably discharged from the army. He'd drilled every skill he could think of into their brains including tracking and how to cut off limbs without killing the person the limb was attached to.

"Hey I paid attention. That should have been clear by how many times he got onto me for askin' questions while he was talkin'." Trix told her brother. Daryl smirked slightly before turning his eyes back on the ground. He noticed a blood trail and gestured for at least Trix to follow him. She did and, surprisingly, the others followed too. Albeit a little slower and reluctantly but still. They followed the blood to an open door on the other side of the roof. Daryl had his crossbow ready the whole time and Trix had an arrow ready to be launched into a Walker's face. They arrived at some stairs and started going down them.

"Merle! You in here?!" Daryl called down the stairs. There was no reply but they rushed down them anyways. Trix didn't know what the building's former use was originally but eventually they stumbled upon an office making her think that maybe it was an office building. There was a Walker inside with a missing jaw that Daryl put down immediately. They followed the still prominent blood trail to another much larger room, a break room maybe, where two Walkers lay dead on the floor. "Had enough in him to kill these two sons of bitches. One handed." Daryl said, impressed.

"With a wrench." Trix added, pointing to the tool lying beside the second Walker.

"Toughest asshole we've ever met, our brother." Daryl told the three men behind them as he reloaded his crossbow. "Feed him a hammer and he'd crap out nails." Trix snorted and nodded her head in agreement.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss no matter how tough he is." Rick said as he walked ahead of them.

Trix rolled her eyes as she followed after the cop. "Not our brother." She said as they walked. She kept a weather eye out for Walkers but mostly she focused on Rick. She wasn't entirely sure if she hated him or not yet. Whatever she thought of him it was definitely closer to hate than like. He'd handcuffed her brother to a fucking roof for crying out loud! And now her brother was one handed. Permanently. There were no prosthetics anymore; he'd never be able to use two hands again. "Merle's smart. He won't let himself pass out from this." She said, extremely confident that she was right.

They continued to follow the blood trail and eventually Daryl and Trix were ahead of everyone else. "Merle!" Daryl called out as they entered a new room.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick said furiously.

"Screw that." Daryl said, glancing around for any Walkers that could have heard them. "He could be bleedin' out. You said it yourself." He told the cop before following the blood. Trix followed after him but walked backwards so she could see if any Walkers snuck up on them. She had her bowstring pulled back but she kept her arrow pointed at the ground so she wouldn't accidentally kill someone she didn't want to. Daryl tapped her arm a few seconds later and she turned to see a fire going on a stove and Merle's belt.

Rick picked up what looked like an old fashioned iron from the stove top and looked at it. There was something burned onto it, something that made Trix want to gag. "What's that burnt stuff?" Glenn asked. He sounded a bit scared.

"Skin." Rick answered. "He cauterized the stump." He explained a moment later.

Trix stared at the fire and the burnt flesh, remembering the amputating lesson Merle had given her and Daryl. He'd explained about how sometimes people went into shock when their wounds were cauterized but others could tough it out. Obviously, Merle had toughed it out. "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl told the cop.

"Don't take that on faith." Rick told them. Trix glared at him, they weren't taking it on faith. They knew Merle was too stubborn to die and too strong to be killed. "He's lost a lot of blood." Trix didn't think that mattered. Merle had lost enough blood to be rendered pretty weak and yet he'd taken down two Walkers and cauterized his wound without passing out. If he could survive all that there was no way he wasn't alive right now.

"Yeah?" Daryl said, his eyes focused on a window across the room. "Didn't stop him from breaking out of this death trap." He said, walking towards the window. Trix followed him and saw that the glass was busted out of one of the panes. Merle had escaped.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn asked.

Daryl peered out the window, looking at all the possible places their brother could have gone to. "Why wouldn't he?" He asked before straightening up. "He's out there alone, as far as he knows, doing what you gotta do. Surviving." He said. Merle was like that. When shit hit the fan he went into survival mode. He really would have done great in the army except for the fact that his survival mode did not include trying to get others to survive too.

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog questioned. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out. What are his odds out there?" He asked.

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks!" Daryl said angrily. T-Dog and Glenn looked away awkwardly and with at least some degree of shame. Trix couldn't help glaring at them a bit and couldn't help glaring at Rick either when she looked at him. "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard." Daryl said angrily.

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story?" Rick asked.

"Why don't you take a tally?" Daryl asked. He wasn't even furious anymore, just ready to go get Merle. The more time they took the longer Merle was on his own, possibly in trouble. "Do what you want. We're gonna go get him." He said.

Daryl started to walk back to the window and Trix went to follow him but Rick stopped them. He placed his hand on Daryl's chest and pushed him back slightly. "Daryl, wait." He said calmly.

"Get your hands off me!" Daryl said furiously before Rick's halting hand was away from him. Glenn shushed him but he went unheard by the angry Dixons and the cop who was trying to make them see reason. "You can't stop me! You can't stop my sister! We're gonna go find our damn brother and you're not gettin' in the way of that!" Daryl told Rick, getting in his face.

"Listen, I don't blame you. Either of you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine, I know how you feel." Rick said. Trix and Daryl grudgingly had to admit that he did actually understand. He was the only one out of the group that had actually had to go looking for their family. He had been through what they were going through now. "He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick told them.

Daryl looked over at his sister and a silent conversation passed between them that only they could understand. The Dixons had always been able to do that, tell what each other were thinking without words. It was in the expression sometimes and other times they just knew. They were a dysfunctional hot tempered trio but they knew each other. Better than anyone. Finally, Daryl looked back at Rick. "We can do that." He told the cop.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog told them.

"We can do that too." Trix said without even looking at her brother. She knew he agreed with her. They couldn't go through the city without more than just her and him being able to kill the undead bastards roaming the streets. They'd end up dead and that definitely wouldn't save Merle.

T-Dog looked at her in surprise. "What? You're actually listening to me now?" He asked almost jokingly.

"Shut up." Trix said angrily, instantly glaring. Rick tensed, ready for a fight. Trix didn't know whether it bothered her or not that this guy they'd only known for a day already knew how quick they were to get into fights. "We're not stupid. We know we need the guns so we're getting the guns. We just need a plan." She told the man.

Glenn had been thinking over what to do since T-Dog mentioned the guns and he had a good idea as to what to do. "I've got a plan." He told the group. They turned their attention on him, each one eager for their own reasons to hear what he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dead, White, and Blue weekend so I thought I'd put up another chapter. Next chapter: Miguel and the Vatos.


	7. Chapter 7

Glenn's plan fucking sucked.

Trix was fidgeting slightly as she stood in the alley with Glenn and Daryl. She didn't like this. At all. If they ended up having to run and climb up the ladder again she'd have to pause long enough to get her bow on her back. It would be hard climbing up too; her bow didn't lie flat against her back and could get caught as she climbed. She could always use the trick she did with her hair to pull it against her back but it still wouldn't work. The hair trick was simple. All she had to do was wrap her hair around her bow once and pull the end of her hair forward, past her face, until it was tight enough. Then she'd bite down on a section of her hair that would keep the bow against her back. It took a few seconds to do though and Trix didn't think she'd have enough time if something happened to get her bow on her back and secure it. She forced herself to take deep breaths and calm down, worrying would ruin her.

"You know, you got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl commented as he loaded up his crossbow. Trix pulled her bow off her back, wincing slightly at how it got caught slightly on her quiver. She yanked an arrow out and notched it the second her bow was free.

"I'm Korean." Glenn told him, sounding annoyed. He took off towards the fence as Daryl expressed his indifference to getting Glenn's ethnicity wrong. The kid paused for one moment before taking off through the open gate.

Daryl pulled Trix down, hiding them both behind the alley's dumpster. They stayed crouched until they heard something coming down the alley from behind them. They were on their feet in seconds and pointing their weapons at the threat. The threat turned out to be a skinny as heck Mexican kid but they still didn't lower their weapons. "Whoa don't shoot me! What do you want?!" The boy shouted. Trix winced slightly, he was too loud. The Walkers would hear them.

"We're looking for our brother, have you seen him?" Daryl asked harshly, close enough now to the boy that the arrow would barely have to fly an inch or two to kill the kid. The kid shouted something neither Dixon understood, taking a few steps back as he did. "Shut up! You'll bring the geeks down on us. Now answer me." Daryl said furiously. Trix's fingers were itching to let loose her arrow but she kept them still. Her bowstring was cutting into her fingers though and it made her worry that she'd accidentally fire. Somewhere in the back of her head she reprimanded herself for not putting on the leather gloves she always kept in her pocket. "Answer me." Daryl ordered the boy.

The kid started shouting. Just shouting again and again the same word that they didn't understand. Daryl hit him, hard, in the face with his crossbow. The kid kept shouting and Daryl kept telling him to shut up, grabbing him by the face and shaking him slightly. Trix looked back to make sure Walkers weren't coming at their backs and was met with an elbow to the face. She slammed back into a wall, accidentally letting loose her arrow and almost dropping her bow. She heard the arrow bounce off the wall across from her but she didn't see it. She got hit right between the eyes for crying out loud! But when she could finally see again she saw two Mexicans beating her brother. One of them had a pipe and was hitting Daryl, hard.

Trix ran over and slammed her bow into the pipe wielder's face. She was so glad her bow was strong or else it would have snapped, she hit the guy so hard. He fell back but at the same time he brought up the pipe he was using. The guy slammed it into her ribs so hard she thought he might have broken at least one. Trix slammed into the wall again and she groaned and gasped in pain. The Mexican guys ran off but one was shouting about a bag. Glenn. Trix forced herself to move off the wall. Daryl shot an arrow and it went straight the ass of the bigger man. Trix would have laughed if she wasn't in so much pain. She dropped to the ground, hurting her knees again, when she was near the dumpster. She didn't mean to but it happened, she'd been so surprised by the sudden pain breathing in caused that she just dropped. Luckily though she fell right near her arrow. By the time she got it notched though the guys were gone and Daryl was forcing the gate closed.

"Daryl! He's getting up!" Trix called to her brother as she watched the skinny Mexican kid stand. She couldn't get up, not yet. Her knees hurt way too much and her ribs were so very bad. Breathing was still hurting more than should ever be allowed and talking hadn't been any better.

The second Daryl had the gate closed he launched himself at the kid and shoved him, hard, ready to kick his ass. Rick came between them though and pushed Daryl back while T-Dog held the Mexican kid to the wall, barely trying since the kid was so freaking skinny. "I'm gonna kick your balls up into your throat!" Daryl shouted at the kid as Rick pushed him back. "They took Glenn! That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends!" He shouted furiously. Rick and T-Dog looked at each other, shocked. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl practically promised the kid.

"Guys, we're cut off!" T-Dog shouted, pointing to the Walkers attacking the fence.

Rick ordered them to go before grabbing the bag of guns and his stupid hat. While he did that Daryl rushed over to Trix and grabbed her around the middle, lifting her to her feet. Trix let out a loud cry of pain as he squeezed on her ribs and as she straightened her knees. "Come on little sister. Don't be a pussy, come on. We can patch you up when we're safe." Daryl told her in a slightly hushed voice as he practically dragged her down the alley. Trix moved her legs as fast as she could but her knees weren't cooperating. "Get up there. Put your bow on your back and go." Daryl ordered her when they reached the ladder.

Trix put her arrow away, put her bow on her back, and did her hair trick in ten seconds flat, her eyes on the geeks at the fence the whole time. They were pushing hard against the fence, almost enough to get through. They had to hurry. Trix started to climb up the ladder but it hurt so much. She gritted her teeth though and climbed as fast as she could, Daryl shouting at her the whole time as he climbed up behind her. Trix knew he wasn't shouting to be mean, he was shouting to encourage her. She was glad he was too cause it really did help. As she climbed up onto the roof of the store she silently thanked him, he was the only reason she'd made it up the ladder.

Daryl had to help her again once they got up on the roof. Climbing though had stopped her knees from aching so much so she was able to move a bit more without so much of his assistance. Which was an extremely good thing cause him squeezing her ribs so much was not doing her any good. At least one had to be cracked.

Once they were back in the little lab office thingy Trix took the first opportunity she could get to sit down. Daryl carefully lowered his sister into a chair at her command then knelt down beside her. "Alright, let me look." He ordered her. Trix nodded and gently pulled her shit up to just beneath her breasts, wincing a bit as she did. She saw the enraged look that appeared on Daryl's face before she saw her torso. It was bad, black and purple and swollen in spots. "I'm gonna kill 'em." Daryl said, his words practically a growl. His eyes turned on the boy now sitting against a wall and he slowly got to his feet. "I'm gonna kill you." He told the boy, pointing a finger at him as he took a threatening step toward him.

"That's enough Daryl." Rick snapped but in the calmest freaking voice ever. Trix had no clue how the man could sound calm and authoritative at the same time. All the people she'd ever considered authoritative were the shouting types. Daryl either growled or grunted, it was kind of an in between sound, before beginning an angry pace back and forth across the room. Rick watched him a moment before turning to the kid. "Now, those men you were with. We need to know where they went." He told the kid.

The boy shook his head a bit. "I ain't telling you nothing." He told them.

"Man, what the hell happened back there?" T-Dog questioned, looking between Trix and Daryl.

"I told you! This little turd and his douche bag fans came out of nowhere and jumped us!" Daryl said furiously, glaring at the kid the whole time. The pacing, the moving about, was doing nothing to lessen his anger. Looking at his sister wasn't helping either. Not just because she had a hand against her torso either. He could see blood staining her jeans, no doubt she'd scraped her knees even worse, and there was a spot between her eyes where she'd been elbowed that was swollen slightly and bruised.

Trix snorted and looked at her brother in amusement. "Did you just call him a turd?" She asked, chuckling a little. Talking still hurt and laughing was almost cripplingly painful but she didn't say anything. Dixons weren't wimps. They could deal with a little bit of pain.

Daryl was going to answer but the kid cut him off. "You're the one who jumped me, puto." The boy said angrily, glaring at Daryl. He paused for a moment and looked at the floor by his feet. "Screaming about his brother like it's my damn fault." He added, talking mostly to Rick and T-Dog.

"They took Glenn, might have taken Merle too." Daryl said in his defense.

"Merle?" The boy said, chuckling slightly. "What kind of hick name is that? Wouldn't name my dog Merle." He said.

Daryl lost his temper then. He tried to kick the kid in the head but Rick managed to pull him back just before his foot could hit home. Trix grabbed an arrow out of her quiver and tried to stab the boy in the leg with it but T-Dog pushed her back down before she could do anything. It was probably a good thing; she needed to rest up a little bit more before she got up. Daryl eyed the kid and Trix could practically see him mulling an idea over in his head. He walked over to Glenn's backpack (he'd left it behind knowing they'd be heading back for it) and opened it. Trix knew what he was going for before he even pulled it out. Merle's hand.

"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl asked as he unwrapped Merle's hand. He threw it down into the kid's lap and Trix felt like gagging, it was disgusting. The kid freaked out and backed himself against a wall in his attempt to get as far from the hand as possible. Stupid kid. Daryl came at him and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him down. "Start with the feet this time!" Daryl growled out, sounding dead serious. Trix had to stop herself from laughing, hearing her brother threaten to get rid of someone's feet was freaking hilarious. She didn't quite manage it though and ended up giggling, earning a terrified look from the boy.

Rick was very calm when he pulled Daryl away from the kid. Daryl pulled back without a fight and walked back over to Trix, placing himself behind her seat. She twisted in her seat and looked up at him. He looked down and caught her smiling at him in amusement. He shook his head but smirked. "The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them; see if we can work something out." Rick told the kid. The boy didn't say anything for a moment but he didn't look like he had much of a problem with this idea. "Will you just show us where they are?" Rick asked. The kid stared up at Rick for a few minutes before nodding. Rick stood up a little straighter and turned to look at the rest of them. "Alright. We should get ready to head out." He told them.

They nodded but T-Dog brought up what they should do with the guns since it was clear the men had wanted them. Trix didn't pay attention to the conversation as she tried to stand. She did manage it but her knees ached so bad that she let out a noise of pain that immediately caught everyone's attention. "Your knees, your head, or your ribs?" Daryl asked immediately, coming around her chair. He grabbed her elbow and placed a hand against her back, like he was ready to support her if need be.

"Knees. Now ribs. Headache too." Trix replied, pressing a hand to her chest. Her ribs were definitely cracked in places. "Breathing hurts. Talking and laughing too. Torso is bruised and swelling in spots." She relayed off information in short sentences, taking deep painful breaths between each sentence.

"Cracked or broken?" Daryl asked, gently prodding where she'd been hit. Trix hissed when he touched one of the swelled up spots but didn't yell out, meaning she was definitely in pain but not the worst. "Cracked." Daryl stated, confirming Trix's worries. He knelt down and yanked on the cuff of her pants, silently telling her to roll them up. Trix did so, rolling her eyes as she did. It wasn't difficult, she was wearing a pair of Daryl's pants and the legs were so loose compared to the waist that actually fit well enough (hers were being washed by the women back at camp.) She looked down at her knees as Daryl examined them. "Scraped to hell and I don't think it was just from that last fall." Daryl said, half to himself and half to her. He prodded around her cuts and Trix clenched her teeth. Her knees were sore. Very sore. "You told me you were fine earlier." Her brother said disapprovingly as he stood up.

"I didn't know they were scraped." Trix said angrily, pushing her pant legs back down her legs. "And I didn't expect to fall again." She continued, walking away from him. She tensed slightly at how her knees hurt, apparently she had to keep her legs and knees moving or else they'd start hurting again. She walked over to the do-rag Daryl had dropped and picked it up, wincing slightly as she kneeled down and then stood back up.

"Do you think you're up for this?" Rick asked as he checked how many bullets were in his gun.

"Of course I am." Trix said immediately, offended. She grabbed Merle's hand off the floor a little more harshly than she intended but carefully folded it back up in the do-rag. "If I keep moving my knees will be fine. I'll get used to the pain." She said as she carefully tied a knot in the do-rag to keep Merle's hand from falling out.

Daryl wasn't the only one who looked skeptical. "What about your ribs? If we have to run you're gonna be out of breath quickly." Rick said, sounding like a father explaining to his kid why they weren't old enough for the big playground.

"I'm not letting Daryl go without me." Trix said firmly, glaring at Rick. She didn't care what Daryl thought of this, she could easily convince him to let her come along, but Rick was a whole different story. He was the special brand of stubborn only good fathers ever achieved and Trix didn't know how to work with that. She was used to all kinds of stubborn except his. "He is my brother. I've already got one missing; I'm not letting this one out of my sight. So don't even fucking suggest it." She glared as viciously as she could at Rick, challenging him to protest.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so don't get mad any of my Spanish speaking lovelies. There's a part below written in Spanish and I don't know Spanish so I had to use Google Translate. Sorry. If I messed up please forgive me.

Trix smiled triumphantly the whole way to the hideout the boy's guys were holed up in. The place was a dump but that had been what they were expecting. Rick hid them behind a wall and peered at the double doors, spying. "You sure you're up for this?" He asked T-Dog. The man nodded and Rick nodded back before turning to look at Trix. She knew he was going to ask her the same question so she glared him down, silently telling him that if he asked he was going to get punched. He didn't ask. Smart man.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl told the kid, glaring. Trix turned her attention on the kid, carefully cleaning the tip of one of her arrows with a rag as she did.

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The kid replied, mocking Daryl. How he was still trying to be all tough was beyond Trix. He had caved already, shown them where the hideout was, so he should be keeping his head down and not say a damn word. It was kind of funny really that he could still sass them.

Rick questioned the boy on who "G" was and quickly found out that the man was the leader of the group the kid was in. "Okay then. Let's go see Guillermo." He said, looking to Daryl and Trix. They followed him out towards the double doors, pushing the kid in front of them. Rick and Daryl kept their eyes out for Walkers or any of the kid's group while Trix kept an arrow trained on the kid himself. The kid was weak, couldn't even beat her in a fight, but that didn't mean he wouldn't pull something.

They stopped in front of the double doors and waited. For a second or two Trix thought the kid had brought them to the wrong place as a trap or something but then the doors opened. One man came out though she could see others inside, waiting for orders more than likely. The guy who came out had to be Guillermo. He carried himself like a leader. He paid no attention to them, looking to the kid. "You okay, little man?" He asked. Trix almost nodded in approval, you always checked on your own before anything else.

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." The kid said, sounding terrified. Trix huffed, of course that would be the first thing the kid decided to tell them.

Guillermo turned his eyes on Rick. "Cops do that?" He asked, sounding incredulous.

"Not him. That redneck puto here." The kid said, turning and looking back at Daryl. Trix glared daggers at him for the redneck comment and aimed for his eye. He quickly turned away to look at Guillermo again. "He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me. And the mujer was laughing about it!" He said frantically.

"¡Cállate! Antes de hacerte callar yo mismo!" ("Shut up! Before I shut you up myself!") Trix shouted at the kid, severely annoyed. Despite their father's wishes, Trix had learned the "dirty spic" language in high school. She'd taken it to piss their father off and had actually done pretty good. She was surprised she even remembered the language; she never used it after taking the class. Why she decided to speak in the language now was beyond her.

Guillermo gave her an appraising look. He seemed a bit surprised that she knew their language but didn't question it. "Tu chico realmente amenazan con cortar los pies de Miguelito?" ("Your boy really threaten to cut off Miguelito's feet?") He asked her, more concerned about the immediate threat that was her brother.

Trix decided lying wasn't a good way to go with this guy. "Él esmi hermanoy síque lo hizo." ("He is my brother and yes he did.") She told him. Guillermo looked ready to kill them then but she kept talking. "Él no sería realmente cortar los pies del muchacho, aunque. Mi hermano no habría caer tan bajo. A diferencia de los hombres. Ellos atacaron primero, nos golpearon con tubos como cobardes." (He wouldn't really cut the boy's feet off though. My brother wouldn't stoop so low. Unlike your men. They attacked first, beat us with pipes like cowards.")She explained, glaring just as fiercely as the man before her.

"Oi! What the hell are you two saying?" Daryl asked, beyond annoyed. He didn't like not knowing what the asshole was saying to his sister, especially when the look on the guy's face was murderous and she looked pissed. If that guy was being violent with his sister then he was going to kick his ass. He already owed the guy a stomping for his sister's injuries; it would be his fucking pleasure to attack the guy.

"Hey! That's that vato right there, homes!" A man said furiously as he exited the building. Trix recognized him as one of the guys that had jumped them. He had a gun out and was pointing it at her brother. "He shot me in the ass with an arrow! What's up homes, huh?" The guy said furiously.

"Llame a su perro fuera ahora! O voy a matar al niño! Nadie hace daño a mi hermano!"(Call your dog off now! Or I will kill the boy! No one hurts my brother!") Trix said warningly, taking a step closer to the kid so Guillermo knew she meant business. If her brother died she was going to take out as many of them as she could and probably die in the process.

Guillermo seemed to understand she was serious because he told his guy to chill out. The man Daryl had shot swapped between glaring at Daryl and glaring at Trix. He looked ready to shoot them both though of course none of them were going to let that happen. Gunshots would attract Walkers. Rick cleared his throat awkwardly. "We were hoping for a calm discussion." He said, trying to pull everyone's attention to why they were there in the first place.

"That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet. Felipe gets an arrow in the ass. Your mujer tells me she's gonna kill our boy unless I call Felipe off her hermano and you want to have a calm discussion?" Guillermo said. Rick shot Trix an aggravated look that she pointedly ignored. She didn't regret telling the man that. It was the truth after all. "You fascinate me." The man said. Trix almost chuckled, he was pissed. Good. Maybe he'd start something and she could get her chance to stomp Felipe's ass. It would be difficult, she was still in a lot of pain, but she'd manage.

"Heat of the moment." Rick said. Trix glanced back at her brother, exchanging a look with him that said they agreed Rick's words were bullshit. Daryl hadn't threatened the kid without thinking it over first and Trix hadn't needed to think over her threat. "Mistakes were made on both sides." Rick said calmly.

Guillermo didn't deny it. "Who are these two to you anyway? You don't look related." He asked, gesturing with his chin to Daryl and Trix.

"They're a part of our group, more or less." Rick said. Trix cast him an unsurprised look; she hadn't expected him to really count them as a part of the group. As far as he'd seen they were loners who didn't get along with anyone. "I'm sure you have a few like them." Rick said, trying to play on similarities that might not even exist. If they did have people like Trix and Daryl then Guillermo would understand but if they didn't then Rick was just grasping at straws.

Daryl had had enough of this. They had to get back to searching for Merle who these assholes might have. "You got our brother in there?" He asked. He had his crossbow pointed at Felipe, his main pain in his ass right then. Another guy came up beside Guillermo that Daryl really wanted to point his crossbow at but Rick was in the way. That was the bastard who'd hit his sister, he just knew it. He was going to kill that fucker.

"Sorry, fresh out of white boys." Guillermo told him. Trix frowned but not too much, she hadn't expected them to have Merle anyway. Their brother would have given them too much trouble and probably would have pissed them off with the first racist comment he made. "But I got Asian. You interested?" Guillermo asked, his attention back on Rick.

"I have one of yours. You have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade." Rick said.

"Doesn't sound even to me." Guillermo said. The kid tried to talk to him but he pointedly ignored him. "My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering?" Trix wanted to punch him. She wanted to punch him hard. His people had been attacked? Hell no, those fuckers attacked them. She had the cracked ribs, damaged knees, and bruised head to prove it! "More to the point, where's my bag of guns?" The man asked. Rick tried to play it like he didn't know what the man was talking about but Guillermo knew he was faking. "The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns." He said. Trix looked at the guy beside Guillermo, the guy who'd hit her with a pipe. She knew that dick's name now. She couldn't wait to see Daryl stomp his ass.

"You're mistaken." Rick told the man. Guillermo protested, shaking his head a bit as he did. "About it being yours. It's my bag of guns." Rick clarified, voice firm.

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?" Guillermo said. Trix had to grudgingly admit that he had a point but she also couldn't help but think that it was pretty damn obvious the bag was Rick's. It had a fucking police logo on it! Rick was the only fucking cop in Atlanta, probably the whole state now! Of course the bag was his! "What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" He asked. At his words, his boys pointed their guns at them.

Trix did the first thing she thought of. She kicked the back of Miguel's knees, forcing him to the ground. She placed her arrow just an inch from his head. If she let the bowstring go, he'd die. Felipe pointed his gun at her and Daryl pointed his crossbow at him. Rick was the only one who remained perfectly calm. "You could do that." He admitted. He looked away, towards where T-Dog was camped out. Guillermo followed his gaze up to their back up guy and frowned. "Or not." Rick said, almost mockingly.

Guillermo smirked at them and Trix felt a small knot form in her stomach. Dammit, that couldn't be good. He shouted and looked up at the top of the building. Their eyes followed his and they saw two of his men standing on either side of what was most definitely Glenn. They were going to shove him off. Trix didn't know the guy well but she didn't want him dead. She especially didn't want him to die by falling off a roof. That shit would hurt. There would be no painless death for him if they shoved him. "I see two options." Guillermo said, drawing their attention back to him. They continued to glance back up at Glenn though, obviously not wanting to look away in case they did anything to the poor guy. "You bring back Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded. We'll see which side spills more blood." Guillermo said.

With that, the men headed back inside their hideout. Trix stepped back away from Miguel, relaxing her bowstring as she did. She started cussing low under her breath. The longer it took to get Glenn back the longer they had to wait to go find Merle. He could be dead by now! Trix felt her heart constrict at the thought and she ran a hand over her face, careful not to stab herself with the arrow in her hand. She couldn't think like that. If she started thinking Merle was dead then she was going to break. Daryl would have a hard as hell time putting the pieces of her back together.

"Come on. Back to the office building." Rick ordered them, signaling T-Dog to come on back down. Trix nodded and followed after her brother, grabbing the kid and dragging him along with her as she did.

When they got back to the office building Rick immediately grabbed the bag of guns and started sorting them. It pissed Daryl off and Trix was practically snarling at how stupid the man was being. They needed those guns! "Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You wanna give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked as Rick sorted through the guns.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back I might agree." T-Dog spoke up. Rick looked over at him as he loaded up some of the guns. "But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" He asked their leader.

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel asked angrily.

"Are you part of this?!" Daryl said angrily, coming over to the boy. He hit him upside the head, considerably lighter than he would have hit a fully grown adult. "You want to hold onto your teeth?" He asked.

Miguel didn't say anything, just stared at the ground. He looked like a chastised child but Trix couldn't help but feel the need to tell him off some more. "Why are you defending him anyway, chico?" She questioned him from where she was sitting across the room. Daryl had made her sit when he had saw how hard she was breathing thanks to her fucking cracked rib. "He wouldn't take you back. He could have, we gave him the chance, but he cares more about those guns than he does you." She said, pointing to the guns Rick was still loading. The kid looked upset and wouldn't even look up at her. Trix felt a bit bad, the kid obviously respected and maybe even admired Guillermo. The betrayal was probably crushing him. She didn't apologize though. The kid had pissed her off by being stupid.

T-Dog waited till he was sure Trix was done talking before speaking again. "Question is, do you trust that man's word?" He asked, looking to Rick again.

"No. The question is what are you willin' to bet on it?" Daryl asked Rick, glaring a bit.

"Might not just be them guns." Trix spoke up. Her eyes locked with Rick's. When she spoke he was going to hear her whether he liked it or not. "You could be riskin' your life. You just got your family back, man." She told him.

"Glenn worth that much to you?" Daryl asked, knowing what his sister was getting at. Neither one of them really wanted to abandon the Korean, the kid had never done anything so bad to them he deserved to be abandoned, but they both felt they had to warn Rick of the risks. He had a wife and a kid that he'd just found. He needed to know that, if he wasn't careful, he might die.

Rick stopped a moment before placing his gun back in its holster at his hip. He looked to Trix then Daryl. "What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank." He told them, his eyes moving from one to the other every once in a while. "He could have walked away but he didn't. Neither will I." He said firmly. Trix had to admit, he was a good man.

"So you're gonna hand the guns over." Daryl said, staring down at the large pile of guns. It almost looked like Rick had raided an armory. Daryl had his eye on a few of the guns, particularly a couple of the shotguns. He'd always preferred his crossbow but he was a pretty good shot with a gun. Trix was too though she preferred her bow. Merle had insisted they know how to shoot every useful weapon he could think of.

Rick stopped again and looked at Daryl. "I didn't say that." He told him. Trix exchanged a look with her brother. Rick was planning on going back locked and loaded, like Guillermo suggested. Rick looked at them then T-Dog. "There's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp." Rick told them.

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog questioned, his eyes closed. He looked like he had had about enough of today.

Trix and Daryl looked at each other. There was a lot that passed between them as they just locked eyes. Their need for the guns, their need to find Merle, their unspoken want to actually help this guy who had agreed to help them find their asshole brother. Trix nodded to her brother, decided. Daryl looked to Rick who stared back at him. Daryl paused a moment, thinking things over for just a second, then nodded. He started grabbing the guns he wanted and loading them up with bullets.

Miguel stood up, distress on his face. "Come on, this is nuts!" He said. Daryl took a step towards him and pointed a finger at his chest, a warning for him to sit the fuck back down. He pushed the kid slightly and he immediately sat back in his place. Daryl pointed at the seat a moment longer, silently telling the kid not to get up again. To just stay there. Miguel looked at them, a desperate scared look on his face. "Just do like G says." He begged them.

"Fat chance." Trix said, getting up from her seat.

Daryl gently pushed her back down. "You aren't comin'." He told her firmly.

Trix stared up at her brother in shock for a moment before anger quickly appeared on her face. "The fuck I'm not!" She said angrily, trying to get up. Daryl pushed her back down again. "You can't go without me! I'm not stayin' in this fuckin' office while you go put yourself in danger!" She told him, furious now.

"You barely made it back here. You collapsed in that fuckin' chair! And you expect me to let you go out there?" Daryl asked her, glaring viciously down at her. He knew she was working through the pain, that now it was sort of just a dull throb to her while she was distracted, but if she just acted like it was nothing much longer she was going to end up getting herself even more hurt. She needed to rest up, wait for them to hopefully get back, and then go back to camp with them where they could patch her up. She needed to stay safe. He already wanted to beat himself senseless for letting her come earlier. If she went again and this time came back even worse he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. "Just stay here. Rest up. We'll swing back by when we get Glenn and have found Merle." He ordered his sister.

"Oh you're plannin' on goin' searchin' without me too?!" Trix couldn't believe him! She wanted to hit him but she wasn't going to. He was her brother after all and she'd be lying if she said she didn't understand why he wanted her to stay. She was his baby sister and if they didn't find Merle, which neither Dixon wanted to think about, then she would be the only thing he had left. If she died out there he'd have nothing. But if he died out there she would have nothing. She couldn't let him leave without her. "Merle's my brother too! I should search too! And it'd be a helluva lot more dangerous for me on my own than if I went!" She told her brother.

"She's right." Rick spoke up. The Dixon siblings looked at him, one peeved and the other surprised. Rick looked at Daryl, a slightly apologetic look on his face. "What if Walkers wander in here? She won't be able to fight off that many on her own and if she does she might end up collapsing. Who's gonna protect her then? She might end up dead." Rick said. He'd already thought this through, the second Daryl started suggesting Trix stay behind he'd come up with reason on why she should go. Daryl glared at him but Rick barely noticed. "I get it, she's your sister and you're trying to keep her safe. But she'll be safer with us where we can keep an eye on her." He told the man.

Daryl glared at the cop as he turned over all that he'd said. He hated to admit it but the cop was right. Trix would be safer with him even if they were about to possibly get shot up by a bunch of assholes. He turned to his sister and something in her eyes told him she had figured out that he'd caved. He glared down at her. "You stay right by me the whole time and you listen to every damn word I say." He ordered her, definitely not in a friendly way.

Trix smiled as she stood up. "Always do brother, always do." She told him. Daryl rolled his eyes and started helping her get ready for the possible firefight to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the chapters! More to come sooner or later!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! My Christmas gift to all of you!

Trix stood behind her brother as he led a gagged and tied up Miguel towards the men's stupid hideout. She had a gun in her hand, a pistol tucked into the back of her pants, a whole mess of ammo in her pocket, and her hunting knife in her boot. She felt naked without her bow and quiver but Rick had insisted that her and Daryl leave behind their weapons of choice so that it wouldn't weigh them down. They planned on going back for them of course and they kind of needed to if they planned on searching again for Merle later. Which they definitely planned on doing.

They forced Miguel to knock on the doors with his foot. The doors opened and Daryl shoved the kid inside. The men behind either door glared at them and clutched their guns tightly. The Dixons glared at them as they slowly walked inside, T-Dog and Rick right behind them. Daryl shoved the kid into the center of the most cleared out area of the large room, right into a half circle of the gang. He kept his gun pointed at the kid the whole time and Trix did too, not wanting to risk any of the gang members grabbing the kid then shooting them up. She glared at Guillermo from where he stood in front of Miguel.

"I see my guns." Guillermo said, looking to the bag on Rick's back. "But they're not all in the bag." He said. He looked up at Rick then and glared. Trix could have smiled at how much shorter than Rick the man was. She wondered if it bothered him. She hoped it did.

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick said, his eyes alone glaring at the man. Trix could have smiled if the situation wasn't so serious. Rick was surprising her left and right.

Felipe came over to Guillermo, looking angry. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese, alright?" Daryl and Trix aimed right for Miguel's head at his words. "Unload on their asses, ese." As he said that, Felipe realized just how much the Dixons were threatening his cousin. He looked worried but also pissed.

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo said. He seemed to only be paying attention to Rick which Trix thought that was a good thing. If anything happened Guillermo wouldn't notice them blindsiding him.

Rick shook his head. "No, I'm pretty clear." He told the man. He lowered his gun and fished a knife from his pocket. Trix watched as he opened it and cut Miguel free. Rick shoved the kid forward and the kid immediately went to his cousin who definitely looked relieved. "You have your man. I want mine." Rick told the gang.

Guillermo stared at Rick a moment, seeming to think something over. "I'm gonna chop up your boy." He said, taking a step towards Rick. Daryl immediately pointed his gun at Guillermo and Trix pointed hers at Felipe, the first man to take a step forward to protect Guillermo. The rest of the men stayed still, understanding that if any of them made a move Trix was going to shoot them. She glared back at them, very pissed off. "I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the eviliest, nastiest, man eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale." Guillermo said. Rick said nothing, just glared back, and that seemed to piss the man off. "I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?" He asked furiously.

Rick took a step forward, causing Guillermo take half a step back. "No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." Rick said. He cocked his shotgun and a second later Trix and Daryl cocked their own guns. That made all the men immediately copy their actions and step forward. Trix glared viciously at them, a snarl building up in her throat. Rick pointed his gun right at Guillermo's forehead and the man leaned back. He kept a stony expression on his face but Trix could have sworn she saw fear in his eyes. "Okay then, we're here." Rick told the man.

Everyone was tense, waiting for something to happen. Trix's eyes drifted to the man who had hit her with a pipe and she turned her gun on him. If she had to become a murderer, she was going to kill the man who had hurt her. "Felipe!" Trix was startled by the sudden woman's voice but she didn't let it show. "Felipe!" Trix glanced past the men and saw a little old woman coming through the men.

"Abuela, go back with the others. Now." Felipe ordered the old woman.

The old woman didn't listen to him. "Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl ordered the men. He was fine with shooting these assholes who'd beat his sister, took Glenn, and threatened them but he wasn't going to kill an innocent old woman. He wasn't gonna let anyone else do it either. Killing the innocent was wrong. He thought back to Merle's plan to raid the camp and felt guilt form in his stomach.

Guillermo looked beyond annoyed. "Abuela! Listen to your mijo, okay? This is not the place for you right now." He told the old woman, looking back at her. He was being awfully polite for a hardened gang leader.

The old woman still didn't listen. "Mister Gilbert is having trouble breathing." She told Felipe. "He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine." She told the man, looking over at Guillermo too so that she got her point across.

Guillermo looked back at them and they could tell he was pissed that this was happening. "Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you." He ordered the other man. He sounded angry and annoyed. A bit stressed too, if Trix thought about it.

Felipe tried to usher the woman away but her eyes were focused on them and she wasn't about to move. "Who are those people?" She asked her grandson. She walked towards them and Felipe tried to call her back in Spanish but she wouldn't listen. Daryl and Trix immediately pointed their guns at the ground, not wanting to accidentally shoot her. She stopped right in front of Rick and glared at him slightly. "Don't you take him." She said angrily.

Rick looked down at her in confusion. "Ma'am?" He asked in a surprisingly polite voice.

"Felipe is a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here." The old woman told him, her voice gentle and begging.

For a moment Rick looked confused but then he realized what was going on. The woman still thought the police were around. She thought he was here for her grandson. "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." He told her. The old woman expressed her confusion, concern appearing on her face. "He's helping us find a missing person. A fella named Glenn" Rick said after a moment's thought.

"The Asian boy?" The woman asked, smiling slightly. "He's with Mister Gilbert. Come, come, I show you." She grabbed Rick's hand and started leading him towards the back of the building, talking about how Mister Gilbert needed his medicine. Daryl and Trix immediately stepped forward to follow after him but the men around them tried to block them. Trix glared viciously at them, her finger pointedly going near the trigger so they knew she wasn't playing around. Guillermo, though obviously annoyed, ordered his men to let them go through. Trix gave the asshole who had hit her with a pipe a smug look before following her brother and Rick. T-Dog followed right behind her, looking distrustfully at every man around them.

The little old lady led them out of the building, up some stairs, and into a whole other building. Daryl and Trix stuck as close to Rick as possible, only separated from him by Felipe who obviously wasn't going to let Rick be led by his grandmother without his supervision. They were surprised when they entered the second building and saw that it looked a hell of a lot like a nursing home. They passed by a couple of rooms, noticing elderly people inside with nurses and occasionally a doctor. Trix was surprised. She had never expected to see an old person again (Dale didn't count since he didn't really look that old). She nodded politely to a few of the people they passed. They gave her soft smiles or nodded back. Daryl even got a smile from a few of the old women which made Trix chuckle. They relaxed considerably as they followed after Rick, realizing that these people and this place wasn't a threat. Trix stuck close to her brother when they entered the auditorium, her eyes moving around quickly to take in everything in the room. She spotted Glenn before Daryl did and did a quick once over of him. He looked alright. Pretty much uninjured. Lucky bastard.

"What the hell is this?" Rick questioned Glenn, looking in confusion at everything.

Glenn seemed oblivious to Rick's worry and confusion. "An asthma attack. Couldn't get his breathe all of a sudden." He said, not understanding what Rick meant.

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog said angrily, obviously annoyed with Glenn. They'd come in there ready to shoot up an entire gang and Glenn wasn't even acknowledging that! Trix wanted to smack him. They'd wasted valuable time looking for Merle saving this kid who hadn't even needed saving!

Glenn looked back and they followed his eyes to a small bed where three incredibly harmless looking Chihuahuas were. One of them barked at them. Trix sneered at it. She'd never liked little dogs. They'd never had any pets growing up but their neighbors had had plenty and Trix had always loved the big dogs. She'd befriended a lot of mean ones, slowly making them love her so if she ever needed to duck through the yards or steal from one of the houses (which she'd done a couple of times) she'd never get attacked by them. Trix used to want a big dog but she'd given up that idea a long time ago. In fact, she'd given up a lot a long time ago. She'd given up even more when the dead started eating people.

Rick turned to Guillermo with a pissed off look on his face. "Could I have a word with you?" He didn't really ask, his tone made it sound like a demand. He dragged Guillermo away from the asthma attack, holding him by the arm like a child. Daryl and Trix immediately followed after them, still not trusting any of these people. T-Dog followed them too and a few of the men moved too, looking tense and ready to fight just like the Dixons. "You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met. We walked in here ready to kill every last one of you." Rick said furiously, glaring down at the much shorter man.

"Well, I'm glad it didn't go down that way." Guillermo said, sounding at least somewhat sincere.

Rick shook his head, looking over to Glenn and T-Dog before looking back at Guillermo. "If it had, that blood would be on my hands." Rick definitely sounded pissed then. Trix shook her head, thinking that Rick was probably one of those cops that got weighed down by every man they killed. Not that that was a bad thing but he'd just admitted it in front of a bunch of still slightly angry looking guys.

"Mine too." Guillermo said, making sure Rick knew he wasn't the only leader around. "We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food. The medicine. What's left of it." He stopped then and glanced over at his men, probably realizing he shouldn't have mentioned how low he thought the medicine supply was. "These people, the old ones. The staff took off. Just left 'em here to die." Guillermo sounded pissed off. Trix couldn't blame him. It was wrong, leaving such defenseless people to die. These old people didn't even have a chance without the Vatos. "Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed." Guillermo admitted.

"What are you? Doctors?" Rick questioned, looking confused.

"Felipe is a nurse. A special care provider." Guillermo said, nodding to the big man. Trix and Daryl glanced back at the big guy who was treating the asthma attack man with care. Trix had to fight back a smile. It was pretty funny to see a guy who'd been threatening to kill them acting like a gigantic teddy bear. "Me? I'm the custodian." Guillermo said. He didn't sound ashamed in the least. Trix and Daryl didn't react, they weren't about to judge him. Not with their past.

Rick stared at Guillermo in shock, seeming unable to find his tongue. Trix turned away to watch the old people, not noticing that the guy who'd beat her with a pipe was watching her. There was an ashamed look on his face but she didn't notice. Daryl did though and he glared at the man. Guillermo noticed Daryl glaring and quite a few of his own men watching the Dixons and T-Dog with distrust. He let out a sigh and suggested they move to another room so as not to disturb the old folk, using them being skittish around guns as an excuse. Rick didn't seem to mind so of course none of them minded. Trix fidgeted though as they walked and once they were in a private room. They were done, right? They'd gotten Glenn back, couldn't they just go look for Merle now?

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked as they settled into the room. Trix fell into a seat as soon as she spotted one, letting out a pain filled gasp that she seriously hoped her brother didn't hear. Her ribs were hurting her so much. Daryl noticed but he figured she'd be okay for now. Besides, she'd told him she'd be fine. She lied so for now she could suffer. He'd patch her up later. And get back at that asshole who'd hurt his sister.

Guillermo sat down on the edge of a desk. Glenn started wandering around the room, looking through doorways and such. Trix watched him, not entirely interested in the conversation. "The Vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle." Guillermo explained. Trix wondered why they'd need muscle. What other men would be stupid enough to live in the city still? "The people we've encountered since things fell apart. The worst kind. Plunderers. The kind that take by force." Trix looked back at her brother who'd moved to stand behind her. Guilt was eating at her. The whole take by force thing was reminding her of Merle's plans for when he got back to the camp. She felt her insides squirm. Daryl knew how she felt. Those people at the camp…well, they had a chance but not a big one. It'd be like deserting the old people. They'd be killing them. Daryl grabbed his sister's shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

"That's not who we are." Rick said defensively.

"How was I to know?" Guillermo asked. "My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage." He stopped, trying to think of how to word what he meant. "Appearances." He said with the smallest shrug of his shoulders.

Trix snorted quietly. His people had got hurt? All they'd done was shoot Felipe in the ass and he was fine now so it wasn't like they'd really done anything bad. Trix felt her ribs ache and she felt a fresh wave of anger hit her. "Guess the world changed." T-Dog said, sounding upset. Trix frowned and looked to the floor. Trix didn't think the world had changed that much. Just the things that used to be a bit hidden were all out in the open. The bad things people were willing to do, now the good regular people knew about them. The Dixons had known all about the bad things, ever since they were kids, so really neither one thought the world had changed.

"No." Guillermo said firmly. The Dixons' eyes snapped back to him. "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken." Trix squirmed again. Right then she was the weak one. She was injured, barely able to move around for now. She knew she wasn't weak, Dixons weren't weak, but she wasn't at her best right now and that was bad. Daryl followed her train of thought easily and squeezed her shoulder again. So long as Daryl or Merle was alive, Trix would live on. "So we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathrooms by themselves so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy and that's worth something." Guillermo said. Trix peered back through the door they'd entered through and saw a group of the Vatos talking. Among them was the pipe wielding asshole. It looked sort of like the other men were arguing with him. "So we barred all the windows. Welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The Vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait." Rick seemed to be taking Guillermo's words to heart. Trix hoped he was. It'd help keep the camp a little safer. "The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why." Guillermo said. Trix's lip twitched. The leaders were about to have a moment, weren't they?

"Because they can." Rick said. Trix almost laughed. That is, until Rick handed over his rifle to the other man. She sighed as he started dividing up the guns and ammo.

Guillermo and Rick talked while they divided up the weapons. T-Dog started talking to Glenn, chastising him for getting caught but at the same time saying how glad he was Glenn wasn't dead. Trix got annoyed with not speaking herself in a chatty room and turned to her brother. She opened her mouth to speak but Daryl silenced her with a glare. "You hurtin'?" He asked angrily.

"No, I'm fine." Trix lied. She gently prodded at her ribs and cursed, loudly, when she touched a swollen spot by accident. Daryl gave her a furious look that she ignored, cursing internally at herself for letting him know she was lying.

"Gonna kick that guy's ass." Daryl grumbled out. It didn't matter if the guy was trying to defend his own, he'd beaten his sister with a pipe. That was something Daryl wasn't going to let slide.

As if on cue, the man who'd hit Trix with a pipe came into the room. A few of the other men followed in behind him but they stayed at the door while the man approached Trix and Daryl. He eyed Daryl nervously a moment before focusing on Trix. "I'm Jorge. I'm uh the guy who hit you." The man said awkwardly. Looking at him, he seemed more like a kid than a man. Trix glared at him, moving her hand so it rested gently over one of the more achy parts of her ribs. "I just wanted to apologize. I uh actually didn't mean to hit you with the pipe. Or with my elbow. I was trying to shove you out of the way the first time, not elbow you, and then with the pipe it was more instinct than anything. I'm really sorry. Seriously, I didn't mean to bust ya up or anything." Jorge said, looking a tad fearful as the Dixons glared at him the whole time he spoke.

Trix frowned as her glare slipped off her face. It was probably the best apology she'd ever been given by anyone which was really sad seeing as the guy's apology was pretty sucky. She huffed quietly through her nose. The guy really hadn't meant to hurt her, Trix would have been able to see the lie in his eyes, so she couldn't really sum up any anger anymore. It'd be an accident. An honest to God accident. So she couldn't get mad. If she  _really_ wanted to she could but she didn't. "Yeah, whatever niño." She said, waving her hand dismissively like it was no big deal. "Not too banged up so don't go feelin' bad." She added.

Daryl squeezed his sister's arm angrily. This asshole had beat his sister with a fucking pipe and she was forgiving him. He knew it'd been an accident but fuck! It wasn't like they could go to the doctor and get her patched up! Not like they would have done that before the world fell apart but still. There wasn't exactly that many supplies left in the world. Bandages were hard as hell to come by. At least they had Merle's painkillers. He'd have to keep a close eye on her while she took them but at least then she wouldn't be in pain.

Jorge smiled at Trix and gave her a gracious look before quickly leaving with the other men. Daryl glared after him. He felt his sister relax though and she let out a quite deep sigh, tired and in pain. His jaw locked but his grip on her shoulder relaxed. Dammit. Fine. He was still pissed but Jorge had apologized and Trix had accepted it. He couldn't do anything else about it now. Still, next time someone tried to hurt his sister they were going to end up dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas everyone or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas. Sleep well :)


	10. Chapter 10

It took a little while but finally they left the Vatos, coming to an agreement that none of them would attack their group ever again and vice versa. They made their way back to the office building they'd left their stuff at and, just like Rick said they would, they searched the surrounding buildings for Merle. Daryl and Trix moved through each building, looking through each room hopefully for their brother. Eventually though Rick placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder and said they had to head back, that if they hadn't found Merle yet they wouldn't. Daryl and Trix had wanted to protest but they knew Rick was right. They'd looked in every building Merle could have gotten into before collapsing. It was obvious he hadn't collapsed and was far away now. So they listened to Rick and walked with them back to the truck. Except the truck wasn't there.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl asked, looking in shock at the place their ride out of the city had been. Trix stared at it too but her shock disappeared quickly as an explanation came to her.

"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn asked, sounding a tad panicky.

Trix let out a loud snort, turning the men's attention to her. "Who do you think?" She asked sarcastically, as if it was obvious. Merle was the only one who needed a vehicle and the only other person they knew had been in the city. If Merle hadn't taken the van then Trix was a horse.

"Merle." Rick said when he realized who she was talking about.

"He's going to be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl told the others. He looked to Trix as he spoke and the look in her eyes confirmed that she thought the exact same thing. Merle was probably incredibly pissed off. In fact, they knew he was. You didn't do something like that to Merle Dixon and not except him to get pissed. So if he headed back to camp the first thing he was going to do was start a bunch of shit. Then he'd look for Rick and probably smash his face in.

Rick looked angry but at the same time he didn't. It was more in his eyes than anything. "Come on, let's move." He said. And with that they started running.

They ran for a long freaking time. Rick would let them stop for maybe a minute every once in a while, mostly for Trix's benefit, but other than that they were constantly running. Trix and Daryl didn't mind. Dixons were tough and Merle had made sure they could be considered athletic. They didn't mind his constant pushing to be the toughest though, not in moments like these. They hadn't minded it a few other times either like when they'd had to run from the cops. Trix almost chuckled. They used to run from the cops but now they were running with a cop. It was sort of funny. And then they heard gunshots and screaming coming from the camp and they ran even faster.

When they reached the camp they were so shocked they had to stop for a second. The camp was in chaos. There were Walkers everywhere, biting and tearing flesh from anyone they could get a hold of. Trix felt a cold fear. What if Merle had done this? What if Merle was one of the Walkers? Or here being eaten? The thought spurred her into action immediately.

Trix swiped the shotgun she'd given back to Rick out of the bag on his back and immediately started firing at every fucking Walker she could see. She went with Daryl, heading towards the people at the RV. Daryl stopped to smash in a Walker's head but Trix spurred on. She swung the end of her shotgun at a Walker coming at her, hitting it hard across the face. It dropped to the ground and she stomped its head hard into the ground. Blood splattered onto her boot and brain squished beneath her foot but she didn't let it bother her. She fired at another Walker then went running again, pausing for a split second to glance back at her brother and make sure he was alright. Thank God he was. She swept her eyes over the people at the RV, making sure there were no Walkers around them, then ran straight towards the remaining undead bastards. Daryl followed after her and within a few minutes they'd killed all of the remaining flesh eating assholes in the camp. They were sweating by the time they were done and breathing heavily. Trix looked to her brother and grinned at him, letting him know she was alright. He nodded back, letting her know that he was too.

Andrea's heartbroken wails filled the air. Trix and Daryl turned at the same time and saw Amy on the ground, blood coming out of her neck. She wasn't moving. Andrea sobbed violently and everyone around her either turned away crying or couldn't take their eyes off the poor girl. Trix was one of those who couldn't look away. Fear was gripping her again. What if Trix was in Andrea's shoes? What if it was Daryl dead on the ground? Trix didn't know what she'd do. Probably break down. Her brothers were her main source of strength, without them Trix would break. It made her worry again. What if Merle was among the dead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short. And I took forever to update. My perception of time it's...it's not good. Anyways! Hopefully I'll have a longer chapter for you next week and hopefully I remember to update next week. Feel free to message me to remind me, it helps and I do actually see them. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

The morning came quickly. Within a few hours really. After everyone had calmed slightly, Rick told them to head back to their tents. Just for a minute to calm down but no one managed it. The Dixon siblings were especially restless. Trix sat in their tent for most of it and dozed slightly but she always shot up after a few minutes from nightmares. Daryl kept walking the tree line like he expected more Walkers to spring out of them. Trix finally gave up with just sitting and started walking like her brother but not along the tree line. She walked around the camp, around the tents, instead and looked at the bodies. She felt like she needed to. One to make sure none of theirs were reanimating just yet and two to see if she could catch sight of the familiar features she'd grown up looking at. She didn't see them though and when she reached the last body and saw it wasn't Merle she felt a strange mix of relief and frustration. She was glad he wasn't dead of course. Glad he was still out there somewhere, fighting and staying alive. But dammit she wanted to know where he was. She needed to know where he was. Because this wasn't like when he ran off before everything went to shit, where it was okay if he was by himself and they didn't know where he was. This was different. There were things all over that would just love to kill him. She didn't want him to be alone. She knew, deep down, though that he would be. For a while anyways. Because every time Merle left he was gone for a long time and she seriously doubted that that had changed.

Trix tore her eyes away from the body, only just realizing she'd been staring at it. She looked up at the sky instead and noticed it was lightening up. The sun was rising. She immediately started looking for a pickaxe, pulling her hair up as she did. The second she found one she grabbed it and started for the nearest body to make sure it didn't come back.

As she started working, Trix noticed she had a watcher. Rick, who had been sitting on top of the RV since everyone (besides Andrea) walked off, was staring down at her. When he noticed her looking, he nodded. Trix didn't know how to respond, even to that simple of a gesture. She was still pissed at the man but the familiar dull ache of once again being abandoned by Merle made her anger die a bit. So, unfortunately, she wasn't angry enough to just ignore him but she was still angry enough to not want to greet him. Still, she felt herself nod back. Rick seemed a little surprised at that but Trix chose to ignore that. The second she nodded she turned back to the body at her feet and slammed the pickaxe down into its head. Her ribs screamed in protest and she clenched her jaw in pain but she didn't stop. She couldn't let her injury hinder her in anything. So she was just going to go with the pain. She'd done it before. She could do it again. "Need help?" Rick called down quietly, starling Trix slightly as the silence was broken.

"Daryl will help me." Trix replied just loud enough for him to hear, almost grunting in that angry Dixon way. She slammed the pickaxe down into another head. Her ribs screamed again but not as badly and she let out a breath of relief. Her body was accepting the feeling of the pain. Thank God. If her body accepted the pain she'd be fine. She wouldn't have to grin and bear it. She could just adjust and ignore. Out of the corner of her eye, Trix noticed Rick climbing down off the RV and Dale climbing up to take his place. For a moment Trix wondered if the older man would give her that disapproving look she'd seen on his face a million times since coming to the camp when he caught sight of her smashing skulls in. But then she remembered she really didn't care and went back to work. Or at least she  _was_  gonna go back to work but then Rick appeared at her side and she had to stop to avoid nearly killing him with the pickaxe. She turned to him and gave him the most annoyed look she could manage which was pretty damn annoyed. "I don't need your supervision." She snapped at him, trying to scare him off. She didn't want him near her. Merle was gone because of him. She wanted him as far from her as possible.

"That's not why I'm down here." Rick said calmly, shaking his head. His hands were on his hips. Trix felt like she was about to get a lecture from a teacher. She could have laughed. If Rick was going to treat her like a kid he was going to get hell back because she wasn't going to stand for it. She was twenty fucking six; she wasn't going to be treated like a child. She gave him a doubtful slightly angry look cause she seriously doubted that Rick had come down for any reason other than to make sure she didn't screw up. "I wanted to thank you." And just like that, Trix was frozen. "Well, you  _and_  your brother but I figured it'd be easier to talk to you." Rick continued on as if he hadn't just dropped a bombshell on her. No one thanked them for things. Never. No one. Especially no one from this group. They never even thanked them for hunting! It was…It was definitely a shock. She hid that though when Rick looked into her eyes. She wouldn't let him see how his words affected her. "You didn't have to stick around. After you saw Merle wasn't here. You could have just left but you didn't. Same for in Atlanta. And I wanted to thank you for that." The former cop told her, completely and utterly serious.

Out of the corner of her eye, Trix noticed Daryl walking over. There was a look on his face that said he was reading her movements, trying to see if Rick was upsetting her or not. Trix knew that if she moved right he would come over and punch Rick right in the face but she didn't want that. Not right now. So she made her stance just slightly more open, letting Daryl know she was okay. "Yeah, well, you're welcome." She finally told Rick, feeling nine kinds of awkward. Rick smiled at her then. And, after squeezing her shoulder, he walked off. Trix pretended she hadn't flinched when his hand came at her and she ignored how her whole body had tensed up at the kind touch.

Rick nodded to Daryl when he passed by him but the Dixon male didn't nod back. He half stopped though and looked back at the still walking Rick, almost like he wanted to say something to the man. But after a few seconds he turned away and walked over to his sister. Trix had grabbed a pickaxe for him in those brief seconds and she handed it to him when he neared. "What was that about?" Daryl questioned as they got to work, quiet enough for no one but her to hear.

Trix rolled her head around a bit and rolled her shoulders as well, trying to rid them of their stiffness. She then slammed her pickaxe down into the closest head. "He wanted to thank us for not ditchin'. Thought it'd be easier to talk to me." She said as casually as possible, as if it wasn't a big deal. As if it didn't matter at all. Daryl knew it mattered though so for a second he just stared at her, taking in the way she was trying to act as if everything was normal. She glanced at him for a brief second, their eyes locking, and he nodded. Then he went to work like she'd never said a word. If Trix wanted to ignore it, they'd ignore it.

It didn't take long for everyone else to come out of their tents and start helping. They had a system going pretty quickly. Daryl and Trix would smash the heads and the others would take the dead to be burned. They were sweating after a while. It was pretty damn hot for such an early morning. They didn't slow down though or take a break. Not until they heard the safety of a gun click off. They both immediately spun around, both instantly thinking one of the corpses had reanimated, and were actually surprised to see that it was Andrea pointing a gun at Rick. They immediately started back towards the RV, ready to stop the girl if they needed to. Because deep down, the Dixons didn't want to see anyone else die.

They ended up not being needed. Rick backed away and Andrea eventually turned back to her dead sister. Trix turned away when Rick was far enough from Andrea, not wanting to be near the group for any longer than she had to. She'd handled being around Rick but since then her mood had progressively gotten worse. Being around all the others who didn't so much as care that their brother had been left behind in Atlanta just put her in a bad mood. So she started to walk away. Daryl started to follow her but when he heard Rick tell the others to just leave Andrea alone he stopped. Trix glanced back at him but didn't go back to the group like he did. She just kept walking. He could deal with the group, she'd deal with the dead.

Trix listened in while she slammed her pickaxe into Walker brains and she shook her head at what she heard. They weren't going to do anything. Nothing at all! Which okay Trix sort of got it. If that was her sibling lying on the ground she'd be…well, she wouldn't be good. But why,  _why_ , was Andrea pretty much waiting for Amy to turn? Why couldn't she just shoot her and  _then_  mourn? Why would you let someone you care about turn into one of those things? What good would it do? It was just cruel. Especially when it was someone as nice as Amy (yes, Trix had thought Amy was nice despite everything). Why couldn't Rick, like her brother suggested, just shoot her since it was obvious Andrea wouldn't do it herself? It was just stupid, not dealing with it.

Daryl definitely thought so too and when both Rick and Shane agreed with Lori's statement to just leave Andrea alone he let out a disgusted sound, like he couldn't believe them. Which he couldn't. He turned away and started back towards his sister and the dead, an angry look on his face. "Wake up Jimbo, we've got some work to do." He told Jim as he walked by him, sounding annoyed. He walked over to his sister and nudged her with his shoulder. "Keep an eye out." He ordered, giving a slight nod towards Andrea so she knew exactly who he was talking about. Trix nodded before putting her pickaxe through yet another brain. Daryl eyed her a moment, concern peeking up through his anger with the group. He wasn't worried by her lack of talking, that was pretty normal when she wasn't happy, but he was worried about her injuries. She hadn't said a word about them but he knew they had to be killing her. She was tough, he knew that, and she could easily ignore the pain but sometimes she needed to be looked after. Not right now, they had to make sure they were safe first, but the second all the bodies were taken care of he was making her rest.

Trix glanced over at her brother who hadn't moved yet. "You should help Morales." She suggested, trying to send him off. She could see him eyeing her injuries and she didn't want him even sort of thinking about those. She was fine. He should be focusing on making sure the dead didn't come back.

Daryl decided to do as she told him without arguing for once and headed over to the man. He tapped the man on the back, telling him he was there, before tossing his pickaxe down and grabbing the dead man beneath the arm. Morales breathed out his thanks, already exhausted, and together they started dragging the body towards the fire. "Hey, hey, what are you guys doing?" Glenn asked, sounding bothered. Trix glanced over at him but when she saw Daryl wasn't paying attention to the Korean she turned away. "This is for Geeks. Our people go over there." Glenn continued, starting to sound upset.

Daryl glanced back at Glenn briefly before turning back to the body. "What's the difference? They're all infected." He said, beyond annoyed. Trix gave a slight nod in agreement. Yes it sucked that these people were dead but none of them were their family. None of them were emotionally attached to these people, she didn't think. If they were friends, family, then it would be different. Then they should definitely get a real grave but there was nothing dishonorable about putting them in the fire.

"Our people go in that row over there." Glenn insisted, taking a step towards the other men. Daryl didn't react, just stared at the Korean who looked like he was about to cry. Trix stared at him too, having temporarily given up on working to see what would happen. "We don't burn them!" Glenn suddenly shouted. Trix's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Huh. She'd never heard Glenn shout before. "We bury them. Understand?" Glenn said, once again calm. Trix winced at the question. It was never good to ask Daryl something like that, like he was some tantrum throwing child who wasn't listening. She'd seen him throw a punch at Merle, at their bastard of a father, for treating him like that so what would he do to Glenn for doing the same? Trix watched her brother nervously as he stared Glenn down, his shoulders tensed up with anger. She could see him thinking it out in his head, deciding whether or not to snap. When he let out a huff through his nose and turned his back on Glenn to move the body she let out a sigh. Thank God. They didn't need a fight breaking out. Not now anyways. "Our people go in that row over there." Glenn repeated as Morales and Daryl started dragging the body again.

Trix moved out of the way as her brother and Morales passed by, not wanting to be even remotely touched by the body they were dragging. She had just turned away when she heard her brother call back to Glenn "You reap what you sow." Her lips immediately pressed into a grim line. Merle had drilled that lesson into their head a long time ago, he'd said it every time he ended up in prison when they were younger, and it still struck true for them.

"You know what? Shut up man." Morales said angrily, glaring over at Daryl. It was pretty clear he'd about had enough with the elder of the two remaining Dixons.

Daryl threw the body down without thinking. Trix could hear him storming away, towards her, and she couldn't help the way her back tensed when he yelled. "Y'all left our brother for dead!" He shouted at the group, glaring at them all. Trix glanced up as he bypassed her but quickly ducked her head again, not wanting to draw her brother's attention towards her. Daryl had never hit her before, he'd never so much as shoved her, but it was instinct to duck away from the anger by this point. "You had this comin'!" Daryl shouted at them all before storming off, back towards where he'd dropped his pickaxe. He was pissed but he wasn't about to stop working. There were still bodies around that could rise back up and until they were disposed of he could wait to really drill into these people.

Everyone was very quiet for a minute. Then Trix slammed her pickaxe into the head of one of the former survivors, making a loud sickening noise. All eyes but Daryl's snapped towards her but she didn't notice. Not till she went to move to the next body. Then her eyes met Rick's, then Shane's, then just everyone's in general. "What?" She snapped at them, instantly glaring. Her eyes went from one to the next before finally locking with Rick's. He looked tired. For a second Trix felt bad, he wasn't a bad guy and he'd tried to help them get Merle back, but then she remembered he was also the guy who had made them lose Merle in the first place and she looked away. Asshole. A nice asshole but an asshole all the same. "Fuck all of you. You brought this on yourselves." She said, going back to work. The second the words were out of her mouth though she felt a knot of guilt build up in her stomach. She didn't mean that. And she knew Daryl hadn't meant it earlier when he said they'd had this coming. They were just so pissed off and they needed someone to blame.

For a little while after that it was quiet. Trix even took a break for a few minutes to go to her still fuming brother and knock shoulders with him. It didn't mean anything, not really. She was just trying to let him know she was there, that she understood. It seemed to work cause he seemed to relax a bit and he gave her one of those slow understanding nods that said he'd picked up on the unspoken. Trix managed to smile a bit but when she heard Jacqui shouting at Jim to show him something her smile disappeared. Something was wrong. The Dixons turned to see what was going on and saw Jim looking nervously around. Then Jacqui dropped the bomb. "A Walker got him. A Walker bit Jim!" She shouted to the group.

Everyone started moving at once, surrounding Jim without a second thought. Jim shook his head, said he was okay, but none of them believed him. "Show it to us." Daryl demanded, pointing towards the bloody spot on Jim's shirt. Trix tightened her grip on her pickaxe. "Show it to us." Daryl demanded again, wielding his own pickaxe threateningly. Jim watched him, obviously panicking, and a second later he had a shovel in his hands like he was ready to fight Daryl with it.

Trix didn't even think before reacting. No one even remotely threatened her brother. Especially not when he was the only one she had for now. So she immediately moved so that she was ready to swing her pickaxe down into Jim's head, taking a protective step ahead of Daryl as she did. "Put it down Jim." She growled out, eyes blazing with a protective fury. "Put it down!" She shouted when he didn't. She was louder than all the others who had started shouting at Jim and she was the one his eyes focused on. He seemed to regret that choice and who could blame him? The Dixon boys were terrifying when they were pissed but so was their sister.

Daryl glanced between his sister and Jim, knowing exactly what would happen if the man even sort of started swinging. Trix would drop the pickaxe and tackle the man. She'd do anything to knock the shovel out of his hands and get him pinned. And she'd hurt herself in the process. They needed to end this, now. And he knew exactly how to do it. "Grab him." He ordered those closest to Jim and out of his range of attack. When none of them moved he looked to T-Dog, the one closest to Jim, and glared as fiercely as he could. "Grab him now. Grab him." He ordered the man.

T-Dog didn't hesitate once he got moving. He was on Jim in a second, pinning his arms to his sides in a bear hug. Jim dropped the shovel in surprise and Glenn quickly swiped it up, getting it as far away from Jim as possible. Daryl rushed forward, dropping his pickaxe as he went, and immediately yanked up Jim's shirt.

Silence descended on the camp. No one so much as breathed as they all stared at Jim's side. There, clearly visible thanks to the bright red blood still leaking out, was a bite. Daryl dropped Jim's shirt barely a second after he'd seen the wound and immediately retreated back to his sister, placing himself in front of her. Trix, who had lowered her pickaxe so much it was resting on the ground, stared in horror over her brother's shoulder at the man. Everyone stared. And all the while Jim just kept saying he was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loved the finale, hoped you did too. Don't know when the next update will be but I'll try to make it soon.


End file.
